Are you getting bored by card games at your weekly neighborhood game night? Or do your friends and family beg for more dice games but your tried-and-true ones have gotten stale? Maybe you need to have a dice game ready in case the person bringing the nights board game is a no-show. Whatever your reason for wanting to find more dice games for your game night, we’ve brought you our five favorites.
Your prep-work is simple: all you need are some acrylic dice, paper and pens or pencils and you’ll be ready for hours of fun and entertainment, with some good mental workouts and a lot of laughs along the way.
Now, without further ado, here are five dice games that should be a part of your next game night:
Play this game early in the evening when everyone’s thinking skills are sharp!
Objective: Using addition, subtraction, multiplication or division, create a number from three dice that’s as close to 21 as possible.
Materials: Three acrylic dice, pencils and paper
Game play:
On each players turn, the dice are rolled and then a number sentence, using addition, subtraction or multiplication, is made with the aim of getting a number that’s as close to 21 as possible.
For example, if Joe rolls 5, 3, 6 and Mary rolls 6, 6, and 5 the number sentences could read as:
Joe: (5×3)+6 which is 15+6=21
Mary: (5×6)-5 which is 30-5=25
Scoring:
The number closest to 21 in each round gets one point; if a person makes a number sentence with exactly the number 21, they receive 2 points. In the above example, Joe gets two points. Mary gets none. The first player to accumulate 21 points wins.
A quick game that’s easy to learn and can be played virtually anywhere you can roll a pair of dice.
Objective: Be the first player to get five points.
Materials: Two acrylic dice, pen and paper
Game play:
Each player rolls the pair of dice and adds up the sum of the two numbers.
Scoring:
If the sum of the two numbers is even, the player earns a point. If it’s odd, that player loses their turn and the next player takes their turn. Game play continues until someone accumulates five points.
This game has the potential to be over in a minute or two…but, depending on your luck or lack thereof, it could last a bit longer.
Objective: Be the first person to roll the numbers 1 to 6 in consecutive order.
Materials: One acrylic die for each player
Game play: Each player rolls their acrylic die independently and at the same time as the others. So you might roll a 4, 2, and 6 before finally rolling a one. Then you roll until you get a 2 and after that, a three. Repeat for numbers three, four, five and six.
Scoring: The first person to roll each of the six numbers, in order, wins the game.
A simple game that’s interesting enough appeal to kids, teens and adults.
Objective: Get the highest score in each round by adding up the highest number from each of your three rolls.
Materials: Three acrylic dice, pen and paper
Game play:
On your turn, roll three dice and set aside the one with the highest number. Then roll the remaining two dice, also taking out the highest number. Roll the remaining die one final time to get your third number. Then add the three numbers together to get your number for the round.
Example:
Roll 1: 5, 3, 4 (set aside the 5)
Roll 2: 2, 4 (set aside the 4)
Roll 3: 5
Total of the three highest numbers is 14.
Scoring: After all players have taken their turn, the person with the highest number gets a point. Game play continues until one player reaches 10 points. Alternatively, each person can get a score that’s equal to their sum and the person who earns 100 points first wins.
Based off of a game that came out in the 1950s that features dice with a skunks image in place of the number one, this game is never dull.
Objective: To reach 100 points first, but don’t be so greedy that you increase your chance of rolling a skunk and taking your score down to zero.
Materials: Pair of dice, pen and paper, stickers (optional)
Game play:
In the boxed version, each die has the numbers 2-6 and then, in place of 1, there’s a cute skunk image. You can either place a sticker over the one, or just remember that it represents the skunk.
On each players turn, they roll the dice and add up the two numbers. Players can continue their turn for as long as they want to, though upon rolling a skunk (one), their score becomes zero and the next person takes their turn.
Example:
Suzy rolls a 2 and 6 to get 8 points. Then she rolls a 4 and 6. Her score is 18. She decides to roll a third time, this time rolling skunk (1) and 4. She gets zero points. Had she stopped after the second roll, she’d have 18 points to record.
Scoring:
As long as neither dice are a one, the points from both dice are added together. If one skunk is rolled, the player doesn’t earn any points in the round. If double skunks are rolled, no points are earned AND their previous points are erased. Once a person reaches 100 points, the game can end or they can raise the target (to 150 or 200) and continue playing.
Be sure to let us know what you though of these games–and share some more–in the comments below!