Snake Eyes Yard Dice

Take your favorite dice game outside and let the good times roll!

Pig

Pig is played with 1 die.

Play

Each turn, a player repeatedly rolls a die until either a 1 is rolled or the player holds and scores the sum of the rolls (i.e. the turn total). At any time during a player’s turn, the player is faced with two options:

  • roll – If the player rolls a
    • 1: the player scores nothing and it becomes the next player’s turn.
    • 2 – 6: the number is added to the player’s turn total and the player’s turn continues.
  • hold – The turn total is added to the player’s score and it becomes the next player’s turn.

The first player to score 100 or more points wins.

EXAMPLE: the first player begins a turn with a roll of 5. They could hold and score 5 points, but choose to roll again. They roll a 2, and can hold with a turn total of 7 points, but choose to roll again. They roll a 1, and must end their turn without scoring. The next player rolls the sequence 4-5-3-5-5, after which they choose to hold, and adds their turn total of 22 points to their score.

Rule Variations

Common rule variations include:

  • Two dice: two dice are rolled instead of one.
    • Double 1s are bad: all points are lost.
    • All doubles are good: twice the amount added to the turn total, except double 1s add 25 points.
  • Any number of dice (“Hog” variation): the player rolls only once per turn with an arbitrary number of dice.
  • 6 is bad: a roll of 6 is treated as a roll of 1.

Two-Dice Pig

This variation is the same as Pig, except:

  • Two standard dice are rolled. If neither shows a 1, their sum is added to the turn total.
  • If a single 1 is rolled, the player scores nothing and the turn ends.
  • If two 1s are rolled, the player’s entire score is lost, and the turn ends.

Big Pig

This variation is the same as Two-Dice Pig, except:

  • If two 1s are rolled, the player adds 25 to the turn total.
  • If other doubles are rolled, the player adds twice the value of the dice to the turn total.

SKUNK

SKUNK (a.k.a. THINK) is a variation of Two-Dice Pig that is played with large groups. Rather than rolling in turn, all players begin the round standing. At any point in the round, a player may hold by sitting down. The round continues until a 1 is rolled, or all players have sat down.

Skunk is played in five rounds, and scoring is recorded in a 5-column table with columns labeled with the letters of the word “SKUNK”. The first round score is entered in the “S”-column, the next in the first “K”-column, and so on. After five rounds, the highest-scoring player is the winner.