Family Games (Written)

Scroll to see instructions for these games:

  1. ROLL & WIN Dice Game:  Print-and-Play Version
  2. Dice Rummy
  3. Suit Frenzy
  4. Dice vs. Cards
  5. Four Square

Click here for printable instructions.

LET’S ROLL!

 

 

 

Game Name

ROLL & WIN Dice Game

No. Players

2+

Ages

8+

Category

Family & Party

You’ll Need

Official Scorecard, a pencil, and 6 household coins for each player

Objective

Be the player with the most points at the end of the game!

This is the print-and-play version of our best-selling board game – you can buy the packaged version on our website, here.

 Setup:

  • Prepare the scorecards. The scores for up to four players can be recorded on each scorecard.  You can find a printable scorecard on our website at www.deckofdicegames.com.
  • Give each player six coins. The coins will be used to track each player’s available extra rolls.
  • Each player rolls the dice – whoever rolls the most Aces on one roll goes first. Play then passes to the left.  For subsequent turns, the player who won the previous hand rolls first, and play passes to the left.

Instructions:

Play begins at the top of the scorecard and progresses sequentially to the bottom.  During a turn, players each play the same goal.  Each goal is a “hand” inspired by popular card games like rummy and poker. 

Players can roll the dice up to three times to achieve a goal.  They can “hold” (keep) any dice they think can help them achieve the goal and reroll the remaining dice.  If a player achieves the assigned goal, they record the Base Points for the hand on the scorecard.  If a player achieves the best hand for the goal, they also record the Best Hand points for the hand on the scorecard.  Base and Best Hand points are added to record the player’s total score for each turn.

Extra Rolls:  The six coins given to each player are used for extra rolls.  Players can take one extra roll for any goal if they have at least one coin.  When a player takes an extra roll, they must discard one of their coins.  A player may also choose to retake their turn if they have at least three coins.  The player can retake their turn whether or not they used their one allowed extra roll during a turn.  When a player retakes their turn, they must discard three of their coins.  At the end of the game, players receive a 2-point bonus for each unused extra roll, which is recorded on the scorecard in the bonus section.

In the Potluck turn, there is no assigned hand.  Instead, players try to achieve the best possible hand according to the Hand Ranking Chart.  For the Potluck turn, players earn the Base Points for whichever hand they achieve.  Only a Royal Flush wins Best Hand bonus points.  If a player rolls a Royal Flush for Potluck, 30 total points are awarded.

Strategies:  ROLL & WIN is easy to learn but has deeper levels of strategy to master!  The stakes get higher and higher with each turn – so use your extra rolls wisely!  Best Hand bonuses can shift the outcome of the game.  Get to know our dice – as you learn the layout of card faces, you can develop hedging techniques that improve your odds of completing goals and earning Best Hands.  For example, if your goal is a 3-of-a-Kind and you roll two Aces and two Eights, a hedge might be to hold all four dice before your next roll.  You may think that this can improve your chances of rolling a 3-of-a-kind because rolling either an Ace or an Eight completes the goal.  But you should check those Eights to see if you’re taking a Wild out of play, reducing your chance to roll three Aces and get the Best Hand bonus!

Winning the Game:  Scores for all 9 goals are tallied including Base Points and Best Hand Points.  The unused extra roll bonus is recorded, and the grand total is calculated.  The player with the most points wins!

Rank of Hands:

NOTE:  The best possible Straight Flush is also known as a Royal Flush – it is the best of all possible card hands.

Rank of Cards:

  • Ace is always counted as the highest card in a 2-Pair, 3-of-a-Kind, Full House, and 4-of-a-Kind.
  • An Ace can be used as a “1”, to complete a low Straight or a low Straight Flush, such as A-2-3-4-5.
  • Wild cards can be used as any card to complete any hand.

 

 

Game Name

Dice Rummy

No. Players

2+

Ages

8+

Category

Family

You’ll Need

Scrap paper, a pencil, and poker chips if you’d like to keep score by wagering

Objective

Be the first player to reach 500 points!

 Instructions:

Players compete throughout multiple rounds of play to reach a score of 500 points. On their turn, a player may roll the dice up to three (3) times, attempting to combine the dice into sets or runs (or any combination of both sets and runs each turn).

A “set” is three or four cards of the same rank (e.g., 777, AAAA, etc.). 

A “run” is three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order (e.g., 8, 9, and 10 of clubs).

Wilds can be used as any card to complete a run or set.

After each roll, the player may set aside any dice they’d like to keep, and then re-roll the rest. Any dice that do not fit into the player’s set(s) or run(s) at the end of their turn are not counted against their final score. 

Scoring each round: The dice that fit into a set or a run are counted and scored using the following point system:

  • 2–10 are worth their face value
  • J, Q, K are worth 10 points
  • Aces are worth 1 point when part of a run that includes a 2, 3, or more
  • Aces are worth 15 points when part of a run that includes a Q, K, or more; and when part of a set
  • Wilds are worth the card they represent

Winning the Game: A round is complete when all players have taken their turn. Play continues for multiple rounds until at least one player’s total score reaches or exceeds 500 points. When this happens, players finish taking their turns to complete the round, and the player with the highest score wins!  If any players are tied at the end of the final round, then only those players continue to play for an additional round or more, until the tie is broken, and a single winner is declared.

 

  

Game Name

Suit Frenzy

No. Players

2+

Ages

8+

Category

Family

You’ll Need

Scrap paper, pencil, and time-keeping instrument

Objective

Achieve goal of matching all 9 dice to the four dice-suits within the shortest amount of time after four rounds of play!

 Instructions:

The game consists of 4 rounds; each round is dedicated to a dice suit (hearts, spades, clubs, diamonds). On a player’s turn they choose a dice-suit and attempt to roll for the suit of their choice. They roll all 9 dice repeatedly as quickly as possible until all the dice match their chosen suit. There is no limit to how many rolls it takes to have all 9 dice match the chosen suit, and the rank of the faces does not matter. The player may save as many dice as they like after each roll and re-roll the rest.

The player begins rolling when the timer is started. Players record the amount of time each suit took to achieve.

Players may roll for the different suits in any order – but after four rounds they must go for each suit at least once each.

Wilds are automatically considered to match the suit the player has chosen to go for.

Scoring each round: After each round, players will record the total time that it took them to match all 9 dice for their selected suit. Your time is your score; the lower, the better!

Winning the game: The player with the shortest cumulative time after all four rounds is the winner!

 

 

Game Name

DICE vs. CARDS

No. Players

2-10 players

Ages

8+

Category

Party

You’ll Need

A standard deck of playing cards

Objective

Be the first player to ‘shoot out’ all of their cards by matching their rolled dice with dealt playing cards!

 Instructions:

Grab a traditional deck of playing cards to get started!  Each player is randomly dealt five cards from the deck of playing cards, and all five cards are left on the table face-up in front of each player.

On their turn, a player rolls all nine dice once. The player discards any of their playing cards that match any of the dice they rolled. A round is completed when everyone has played once.

If a player rolls a Wild, the player is allowed to give another player any 1 (one) of their remaining cards. 

Winning the game:  The player who has no cards at the end of a round wins. Keep in mind that a player who shoots-out all of their cards in a round might get roped back into the game if someone rolls a Wild before that round is over!

Tiebreaker: If more than one player shoots out all of their cards in the same round, those players take turns rolling all nine dice until one of them rolls a Wild and the other does not. The player who rolled the Wild wins.

 

 

Game Name

Four Square

No. Players

2+

Ages

8+

Category

Family

You’ll Need

Scrap paper and a pencil

Objective

The player with the fewest points wins!

 Instructions:

On their turn in a round, a player rolls all nine dice four (4) times.  The player’s goal is to match dice of the same rank into pairs, trips, or quads.  The player can keep any matches on the table while re-rolling the remaining dice to build more matches.  Players receive points for any un-matched dice upon the end of their turn.

Fours:  Fours are special.  Matching two or more fours gives you the ability to give points to your opponents.  For each of the fours that you matched, give four points to another player.  You must give out your points in increments of four – you can give them all to one player, or you can split them between multiple opponents.  If you finish a turn with an unmatched four, you gain fifteen points!

Scoring each round:

  • Except for Fours, unmatched 2–10 are worth their face value
  • Unmatched J, Q, K are worth 10 points
  • Unmatched Aces are worth 15 points
  • Unmatched Fours are worth 15 points

Winning the game:  A round is complete when all players have taken their turn.  Play continues for four rounds.  The player with the least total points after four rounds wins.