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May 30, 2020

The Dice Game | fun & easy game for kids and adults

In today’s post: The Dice Game is easy to learn and play and tons of fun!

Welcome to the beginning of summer! Since we can all use some easy ideas for keeping the kids happy and occupied this time of year, I’ve decided to share one of our favorite games: the dice game.

Collage: a little girl rolling dice; instructions for the dice game

This game has a number of different names, but growing up we just called it “the dice game.” The name comes from the fact that all you need to play it are six dice, which makes it absolutely perfect to pull out anytime you just really need people occupied for a while.

A little girl holding six dice

It’s also GREAT for playing on car rides, while waiting around in airports, or even lounging at the beach. You just need a hard surface to roll the dice on and a piece of paper to keep score with and you’re set.

A little girl sitting at a table rolling dice and having fun

I really like that even little kids can play this game with a bit of help – and every little kid I’ve ever met LOVES rolling dice.

Six dice sitting on the instructions for the dice game

The basic premise of the game is this: you roll six dice. Some combinations of dice will score points, while others don’t. You take out the dice that have scored points and then decide whether to keep that score, or re-roll the remaining dice to try to score more points. But if you roll again and don’t score points, you lose what you’ve earned so far. So the game moves quickly and there’s an element of risk that makes it really fun to play.

I’ve created a free printable instruction sheet and scoring chart, which you see below. You can download it by clicking here.

Printable instructions for the dice game

And if you’d rather watch directions instead of read them, I’ve also made a video that walks you through all the rules and different scoring combinations, so you can get playing with your kids in no time.


Have fun!

The dice game is easy to learn and fun to play! All you need are 6 dice and a piece of paper to keep score. Great way to keeps kids busy.

 

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Home » fun for kids » The Dice Game | fun & easy game for kids and adults


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Comments

  1. BRITTANY PERKINS says

    July 13, 2016 at 8:50 am

    This is awesome! I always forget how to score!

    Reply
  2. Ashley says

    July 13, 2016 at 9:16 am

    Love that you made a printable for this! My family called it “bones” growing up. So fun that other families know about it too!

    Reply
  3. susan says

    July 13, 2016 at 10:00 am

    so is it like yahtzee? when my daughter was little we had a great dice game book. i wish i knew where it went!!
    thanks so much. printing this out and mailing it with 6 dice to my niece

    Reply
  4. Lorraine says

    July 13, 2016 at 10:06 am

    WOW, Thank you so much! You have just solved all my Christmas Gifts for everyone. This game, in a homemade drawstring bag ( with instructions ) and a gift card of choice wraps everything up, All neat and tidy. I can’t wait to get started.

    Reply
  5. Kayla Robbins says

    July 13, 2016 at 10:27 am

    We call it farkle! Which is what you do if you don’t roll anything worth points, or lose your points. At 3:07 in the video, you farkled. =\

    We also don’t play with the three pair rule, and you have to roll at least 1,000 before you can “open”. Hours of fun! =)

    Reply
    • Tabby72761 says

      July 21, 2016 at 5:12 pm

      We call it farkle too, been playing it for more than 30 years. Can’t tell you the number of dice sets I’ve worn the corners off!

      Reply
    • Shannon Martin says

      June 1, 2017 at 7:54 pm

      Another Farkle player!!! As kids we could not wait to play with the adults. Kids played like you have it here. The adults all had baggies of pennies! They would have to put one penny in at jar in the middle, the winner of the game, got all the pennies!! I have a shoe box full of “Farkle” pennies, in little baggies with each of our family’s names! Even those who have passed away. I don’t have the heart to empty their penny baggies!

      Reply
      • autumn says

        June 2, 2017 at 7:12 am

        I love that you have bags of pennies with relatives names on them! What a fantastic memory 🙂

        Reply
  6. Della Miller says

    July 16, 2016 at 2:47 pm

    Do u have a newsletter I can subscribe to through email I really like your blog please help

    Reply
  7. Kathy says

    July 16, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    Brings back great memories

    Reply
  8. Jamey says

    July 20, 2016 at 9:38 am

    We love this game. Instead of 1000 points for straights and doubles, we always did 750. It seems easier to do math on 1000. 🙂

    Reply
  9. Charmaine Puzey says

    July 27, 2016 at 9:34 am

    This is perfect for our upcoming travels. Thanks so much.

    Reply
  10. Holly anderson says

    September 6, 2016 at 3:40 pm

    We called it “Ten thousand”. There is also a set of cards you used to be able to by to be played with the dice called “Fill or Bust”.
    Great fun either way!

    Reply
  11. Hannah Tillman says

    December 12, 2016 at 12:40 am

    I know it as ‘Farkle’! It’s one of my favorite things. An instruction and scoring sheet is an awesome idea! Everyone I’ve played with has small variations in the way they play. I’ve seen it played with 5 dice as well. Its the same as playing with 6, except, of course,you can’t roll 3 pair ???☺

    Reply
  12. Jody says

    February 26, 2017 at 11:20 am

    I too have played it for many years. We play it with 5 dice and have to get 5,000 points. I always have dice in my purse!

    Reply
  13. Bobbi says

    August 3, 2017 at 5:08 pm

    Thanks for the cheat sheet, it is so much better than just trying to remember the rules!

    Reply
  14. Judith Jones says

    January 25, 2018 at 10:20 am

    We call it Bupkis. Also, there’s another dice game called Farckle. All with the same scoring concept. I still enjoy a good game of Yahtzee

    Reply
  15. Brittany Chiles says

    May 6, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    You can also get the board game Risk and Roll 2000 which is pretty much the same as this. They add a card element for each turn which gives different events (such as two’s are worth 20, no harm no foul, don’t roll out and you can take away 200 from anyone’s score). Lots of fun, my kids at work really enjoy it!

    Reply
  16. CJ says

    July 14, 2018 at 5:49 am

    I grew up playing ‘dice’ with a few differences. We play with a small straight (1,2,3,4,5 or 2,3,4,5,6) being worth 1,500 points and a large straight (1,2,3,4,5,6,) being worth 3,000 points, as long as they are all rolled in the same throw.

    One more difference was the opportunity to score on the previous player’s total. This really changes things up. Once you are ‘open’ you have the option of rolling the dice that the immediately proceeding player didn’t use to score. This cannot skip players. For example, if the next player in line isn’t open, decides not to take the chance, or doesn’t roll a counter the opportunity is lost for everyone else. If you score it adds onto the score the previous player took. Ex. Billy scores 1,000 leaving 3 dice on the table. the next player is open and takes the 3 remaining dice. They roll a five (50 points). If they hold they score 1,050. Play continues according to the original rules. This has actually made it all the way around the table with each player scoring additional points. Due to the increased scoring opportunities, the game is over at 25,000 points.

    Reply
  17. Tracy says

    January 3, 2020 at 1:27 pm

    how do you figure out the points if someone rolls a 4 or 5 of a kind?

    Reply
  18. Katrina says

    June 26, 2020 at 12:19 pm

    We call this Zilch, but we usually play it with 5 dice, so there’s a few differences in scoring.

    Reply
  19. Ella says

    November 30, 2020 at 2:13 am

    Hey! This has actually made it all the way around the table with each player scoring additional points. you’re looking for an easy, engaging game to play with your kids, check out The Dice Game from It’s Always Autumn. This really changes things up. Once you are ‘open’ you have the option of rolling the dice that the immediately proceeding player didn’t use to score.

    Reply

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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