Dice games for the people

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

If I had my way, every drinking establishment in America would have a set of dice behind the bar. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve passed the time throwing dice in bars, on the side of the road while hitchhiking, waiting for noodles to arrive in Vietnam and on airplane tray tables, winging across some expanse of ocean at 30,000 feet. 

My partner Cadie sews little pouches with six dice tucked inside, and always has a set on her when we’re out and about. We stayed up at Schweitzer over Christmas and found ourselves shooting dice on Christmas Eve at the St. Bernard, making new friends and having a blast. 

Ancient dice found in Greece made from knucklebones from 500-300 B.C.E.

Dice are the oldest gaming implements known to man, with archeologists finding traces of misshapen animal bones from 7,000-5,000 B.C.E. and six-sided bones by 3,000 B.C.E. Early humans used knucklebones, sourced from the ankles of hooved animals. Ancient Norse people cast chips with runes on them and made prognostications depending on how the runes lay. Early dice were likely used for this same purpose, with many believing the dice fell a certain way due to some divine intervention. 

It wasn’t until the 16th century when concepts of randomness were conceived that dice falling a certain way became more of a mathematical probability instead of the whim of supernatural forces.

Today, as we throw the bones, we aren’t just trying our luck at the casino or passing the time, we are connecting with our ancient ancestors over the millennia.

Here are a few games that have served me well over the years.

10,000

Some call this game Farkle, but not at my table. You roll six dice and check for ones and fives, three-of-a-kinds, straights or “boxcars” to earn points. Set aside any scoring dice that you want to save and reroll the remaining dice to try and score more points during your turn. 

You can end your turn by choosing to stop and adding the points you’ve accumulated to your total. If no dice score, your turn ends and you get zero for the round. If you roll all six dice and score, pick them all up and continue rolling. The first player to 10,000 wins the game.

A single five is worth 50 points and a single one is worth 100 points. Three-of-a-kinds are worth the face value times 100. For example, three twos is 200 points, three threes is 300, three fives is 500. The only variance is rolling three ones, which is worth 1,000 points. 

If you roll four-of-a-kind, the points double; so four threes is 600 and four fives is 1,000. Five-of-a-kind is doubled again, and so on.

A straight from one to six earns you 1,500 points and a “boxcar” is three pairs, such as two-two, three-three and six-six, which is worth 2,500. You have to have one dice set aside to stop your turn and take the points.

The hurdle is you have to earn 1,000 points in one turn to start scoring for the first time. After that, you can take as many or as few points as you like to climb up to 10,000.

Sometimes, we play “stealsies,” but you have to agree upon this variation with your fellow players or there might be fisticuffs. In “stealsies,” when you leave dice unrolled and take your points, the next player has the option of picking up those dice and rolling from the amount that you banked. So if you take 350 points after rolling four ones and one five (in separate rolls), there are two dice left over. The next player can either take all the dice and start at zero, or roll just those two and start at 350. If they roll a single one, their score is 450, which they can bank, or continue rolling.

You have to reach 10,000 exactly to win. If you go over, or have dice that still score, you bust and return to your existing score until your next turn. So if you’re at 9,800, you have to roll 200 points exactly. If you roll two ones and a single five, your score is 250 and you bust back to 9,800 and give up your turn.

1-4-24

This is a great game my friend Tim taught us while having a beer at the Captain’s Table one sunny afternoon. It’s a perfect game for when you don’t have a pen and paper to keep score. You use six dice and the goal of the game is to roll a one, four and four sixes for the perfect score of 24. You need to roll a one and four to score, and the remaining dice are counted to reach that score.

You must remove at least one die on every roll. If the first player rolls a one, four, six, three, two and four, a good starting point would be to take the one and four so you can score, then the six because it’s the highest. Pick up the three, two and four, and reroll. If the final roll is one, four, six, six, four and five, the score would be 6 + 6 + 4 + 5 = 21. Then you pass the dice and your opponent(s) try to beat that score. If they tie, it’s a roll-off. In one turn of however many players, whoever gets the highest number wins a point. First to three points wins the game.

Dead Man’s Dice

Bonus points if you play this one on the water with a pirate’s hat on. 

You roll six dice for this one. You don’t want fives or twos. If any fives or twos are in your roll, remove them and score zero, then continue to roll. If you roll and none of the dice are fives or twos, count up the points and continue rolling. Roll until you are left with one die, which adds to your score until you roll a five or two and go out. Write down your score and pass the dice. 

First player to 50 or 100 wins.

Two Mouth Dice

This is our own invention, which we created while backpacking at Two Mouth Lakes. There was a perfect flat piece of granite in the sun and we sat around in a circle to play, only to find we only brought two dice. Instead of giving up, we created our own game and it’s a pretty good one, if you ask me.

You roll two dice, three times. You can remove one die and reroll it, but only once per three rolls. You count up the dice on each roll and your final score is the cumulative of all three turns. You receive two bonus points at the end of your three rolls if you don’t remove a die and reroll it. 

For example, if your first roll is four and six, your score is 10. If your second roll is one and five, your score would be 16 (10 + 6). Finally, if your third roll is two and five, your final score is 25 (10 + 6 + 7 + 2 bonus points because you didn’t reroll).

The second scenario is just the same, with the first roll of four and six giving you 10 points. Second roll is one and five, but you elect to reroll the one, which falls as a four, making your score 19 (10 + 9). Third roll is two and five, giving you a final score of 26 (10 + 9 + 7 = 25). You receive no bonus because you rerolled. 

If you roll snake eyes, you get to add the two points to your score and earn a free reroll.

If you score the same as one of your opponents, you go to a rolloff in which you roll one die at the same time. Whomever’s is the highest wins.

We usually play first to win three games takes the cheese.