Travel dice and card games for travellers

How To Play S***headhe actually rolled, or
This game is currently being played all over the world* Lie and announce a lesser value (useful if there
by students, backpackers and inmates, and requires aaren't many players and there is a good chance play
pack of card for every two people playing i.e., onewill come around to him again).
pack of cards for two players, two packs for four,The dice are concealed with the lid and carefully
etc. The object of the game is to be the first personpassed to Player Two, who now also has three
to get rid of all their cards. The last person to do sooptions.
is the sh**head (or silly-billy if you're playing with* Believe Player One, in which he has to roll either the
children under 12).same or higher without looking.
How to Start* Call Player One a liar, and look at the dice to see if
Deal three cards face down for each player, then onhe was right. If the dice was lower than Player One
top of them lay another three cards facing up. Dealannounced, Player One loses a life. However if it was
each player three cards to hold in their hand, thenequal or higher, then Player Two loses a life.
turn over the top card of the pack to start the* · Pass the dice without looking to the next
discard pile off. Now the player to the left off theplayer; this relieves Player One of all responsibility and
dealer starts play, by laying down an equivalent,the bluff is now on Player Two's shoulders. Player
higher or power card.Three can now either call or believe the pass, or pass
Power Cardsit on.
Aces are high.Each player must always match or beat the previous
2 can be played at any time, and drops the value ofvalue, or pass it on blind and take his chances.
the discard pile back down to 2.If the game continues all the way round the circle
7 can be played at any time and changes theback to Player One, then he cannot continue without
direction of play.raising the score.
10 can be played at any time; whatever is on theWhen a player loses a life he must either lose a
discard pile is set aside for the remainder of play andmatchstick or turn his life dice up to show a five. The
the player may take another turn.play then returns to the player who preceded him.
Rules of PlayScoring
1. You must have a minimum of three cards in yourLowest come the numbers made of mixed dice with
hand at all times until the stock pile has gone. If youthe highest number always coming first, e.g., 31, 54,
play one card you must pick up another, if you play63 etc. Next come the doubles running from a low of
two, pick up another two etc. If you have more than66 up to the highest 11. Highest of all is Mia, or 21;
three cards in your hand you need not pick upnothing can beat this and if it is rolled or announced
another until you are back down to three again.the losing player will lose two lives. Thus the
2. You must always match or beat the value of thecomplete order of rolls runs like this, from lowest to
card laid down by the previous player, otherwise youhighest
have to pick up and keep the whole of the discard,66,21.
pile. If this happens then the previous player getsStrategy
another turn.This is much easier to play than it sounds; just
3. If a 10 is played then the discard pile is set asideremember that you must either trust, or match and
for the remainder of the game and the player takesbeat the player who came before you, so if you
another turn.can't, lie, lie, lie!! Often the player who follows you
4. If you have more than one card of the samewon't want to risk losing a life by challenging you
value you can lay them down simultaneously; if youincorrectly and thus will just take your call at face
can lay four cards of the same value down at once,value. Likewise, don't trust anyone else, there is
then the discard pile is permanently thrown out andalways a good chance they're lying too!
you get another go (this discarding of the discard pile10,000
is quite handy, as then there are less cards for youThis is another popular dice game; all you will need is
to pick up if you can't manage to match or beat thesix dice, a cup and a pen and paper for scoring.
previous card).How To Play
5. When all the cards in your hand are gone andEach player rolls a die in turn; the one with the
there are no more to pick up from the stock pile,highest score goes first by rolling all six dice. Each roll
you can then play your three top cards.must end up with at least one scoring die or the go
6. When you have exhausted these you can play theends and the player loses all points accumulated in
bottom three. Obviously you are playing blind here asthat turn.
you don't know what they are but this is the best bitPlayer One rolls all six dice; after each throw he must
as it can completely turn the game around; if youscore points in the form of sets. If he wishes to
can't play the card you've turned over you have tocollect these points he sets these dice aside, then he
pick the discard pile up!can either
7. If you manage to get rid of all your cards first* Roll the rest of the dice in order to make more
then you've won! If not, then you get called namessets,
all evening.* Or, if all his six dice are tied up in sets he can
8. Some people play a variation where upon beingthrow all six again and keep scoring or
dealt three cards into your hand at the start at the* Pass the game over to the next player in the
game, you can swap any or all of them for the threecircle, if he thinks the chances of failure are too high
cards facing upwards. This is the only time in theand he might lose his points.
game you can do this.The player's turn ends when he fails to score with a
Mia, or Mireroll (thus scoring nothing), or when he passes play
This is a very old game which seems complicated toover. Sets cannot be put together; for example, if
explain, but is incredibly good fun to play, based as itSarah rolls and puts aside a 5, and then rolls three 5's
is on bluffing and lying to your friends. Medievalin her next roll, she can only count them as one triple
re-enactors particularly enjoy this game round aand one single, rather than four-of-a-kind.
campfire when they've spent the evening doing theScoring and Sets
best part of a bottle of mead and reliving their finest1 =100 Triple 6 = 600
bruises.5 =50 1,2,3,4,5,6, = 3000
You will need two dice, an opaque cup or beakerTriple 1 = 1000 3 pairs = 1500
with a lid (even a beer mat will do) and a dice or 6Triple 2 = 200 Four of a kind = 1000
matchsticks for each player to record how manyTriple 3 = 300 Five of a kind = 2000
lives they've lost on.Triple 4 = 400 Six of a kind = instant win!
How to StartTriple 5 = 500 Two triplets = 2500
Players start with six lives, so turn their dice with theThe first player to reach the 10,000 threshold wins,
six up. Player One rolls the two play dice in the cup,unless another player can beat him with their last
has a discreet look, and then makes a decision basedremaining roll. Some variations include that a player
on the following three choices…must reach at least 500 per turn in order to be "on
* Tell the truth and say what he has just rolled,the table" and keep that turn's score. Others say
* Lie and say announce a greater value than the onethat four 2's in a roll cancel that players entire score.