Dice Games Properly Explained

by Reiner Knizia

THE DEFINITIVE BOOK ON DICE GAMES! World-renowned game designer Reiner Knizia has written the absolute classic on dice games and strategies. Straightforward and easy-to-read, this little gem gives detailed instructions, comprehensive odds, and insightful strategies on nearly 150 dice games and variations-several of which appear only within these pages!

Topics covered include: Betting games - Including casino favorites where a little knowledge can give you a distinct advantage...or at least minimize your disadvantages!
Bluffing games - Your ability to use psychology and persuade other players is often more important than your actual throw!
Category Games - Use strategy to achieve specific results and be the first complete and win the game.
Lucky Scoring Games - In these games chance and fate have the upper hand...but knowing your odds never hurts.
Progression and Jeopardy Games - Play wisely and successively improve your score while minimizing your risk of losing everything!
."..and much, much more!"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Reiner Knizia is one of the world's most successful and prolific game designers of all times. He has had more than 500 games and books published in many countries and languages with sales totaling over 15 million games. He has won numerous international awards including five German Game Prizes, two German Game of the Year Awards, the German Education Game Award, four Austrian Game Awards, the Swiss Game Award, three French Grand Prix du Jouet, the Spanish Game of the Year Award, the Dutch Game of the Year Award, three Finnish Game of the Year Awards, the Swedish Game of the Year Award, the Danish Game of the Year Award and the Japan Board Game Prize.

Genres: Games, Game Design, Nonfiction, Reference, Design

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the best book on games I've ever read. Knizia, one of the great game designers, takes some relatively simple dice mechanics, makes tiny switches to rules that have great effect, and then does it again, and again, and again. Each time, he explains how the change changes the strategy and the psychology of the game. Great stuff.

[Sascha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It really is just a list of games. The early ones might be fun to play with little kids but don't seem particularly good. It's fun to imagine a world where every pub just has oodles of dice for gambling. Mostly though it's interesting to see how small rule changes can make games soo very different, and to hear his strategic breakdown of what are generally pretty simple games.

[Deryk Rumbold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literally just dice probabilities and rules of dice games, the man is insane to think people would actually read this book.

[Joseph R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reiner Knizia is a prolific board and card game designer. This book covers dice games, focusing strictly on six-sided dice games. This little book covers nearly 150 games, sorted into various categories. I was hoping to find some interesting games, especially for playing at restaurants to keep the kids occupied while waiting for food to be delivered.

The book begins with simple luck games, often focused on getting one particular number or a set of numbers. Players have no tactical or strategic control, other than throwing the dice. The games are surprisingly diverse and engaging. Knizia often describes them as German pub games where the loser has to buy the next round.

The second set of games involve dice and counters (chips or matches are Knizia's recommendation; we might use sugar packets if playing at a restaurant). The games have a bit more complexity but the same amount of luck. We are going to try our Hungry Jack, which uses two dice, six counters per player, and a small playing board.

Players take turns rolling the dice. If the number is seven, the counter goes in Jack's stomach and out of the game. For any other number, the player either puts a counter on the number if it is uncovered or takes the counter off the covered number. Players are eliminated when they run out of counters. Last player standing wins.

The next chapter covers the theory of dice. Knizia reviews the probabilities of rolling various numbers. A single die has equal chances for each number. Two dice are more likely to come to a total of seven. A total of two or eleven is much rarer. He describes how to calculate probabilities and has some helpful charts to explain the math behind the possibilities. The chapter is fairly short and straightforward, making it easier reading than you'd think.

The rest of the book goes over more complex games, including betting games, progression games, jeopardy games, category games, and bluffing games. The betting games section includes the casino favorite Craps, going into detail about the various bets that can be made, how the odds are calculated, and how the house always makes money. It's convinced me not to play Craps unless I am doing so just for entertainment value (something Knizia encourages).

Progression games involve throwing certain combinations before the player can score with other dice. Jeopardy games force players to get better scores or sets than previous players--games of one-upsmanship. Category games are like Yahtzee, where players need to strategically decide what dice to re-roll and which sets to go for. Knizia describes an amazingly large variety of games here. Bluffing games include a lot of poker-style variants.

The book is more interesting than I thought it would be. The technical/mathematical stuff is straightforward and easy to understand. The games have a huge variety, so it's easy to find something that would be fun to play.

Highly recommended--this should go on your shelf next to your copy of According to Hoyle, the classic text on card games.

[Martin]

This is probably not the kind of book I’ll read straight through, but instead skip from chapter to chapter, looking for nuggets of wisdom that stick out at me between the rules explanations. If I’m looking for a game to play, strictly with dice, this will be a fantastic reference.

I did just read the introduction, and it sounds like I should at least also read the chapters on dice theory and strategy games, as those are likely to be the most of personal interest.

[Brian Lindawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very few people will be interested in reading through the rules and strategies for dozens of dice games. I however am one of those people. The first section of the book, which ran through games that had no strategy whatsoever, went on far too long. I don't know if you could call those activities games if they don't have strategy.

[Vsevolod Zubarev · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extensive collection of pure 6-sided dice games. Most of the games are quite simplistic, but the bluffing ones in the last chapter look interesting.

[Thomas Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Knizia is a genius.

[Forrest Aaron Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read of different games as well as some info on the math and strategy behind dice games

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the best book on dice games that has been written so far. If anyone knows of a better one I welcome suggestions.

[Yokusun Basi]

Dice Games Properly Explained by Reiner Knizia (2010)

[Christian Lindke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blue Terrier Press has finally re-released Reiner Knizia's indispensable DICE GAMES: Properly Explained. The book contains over 150 dice games and variations and has an easy to understand chapter on the statistics of dice probabilities. Unlike SCARNE on DICE, which is also very useful, this book is targeted at the hobby gaming audience and uses a more casual tone.

The book presents games ranging from those that are completely random to those where skill has a serious effect on outcomes. I found it pleasantly surprising that one of the leading designers of the "Eurogames" movement presented so many games of pure chance. One often finds those in the eurogame community who argue against chance being too much a factor in games -- its one of the complaints that people often volley at Formula De -- and it's nice to find one of the key designers advocating games that focus on "play" rather than competition -- which is really the quintessential difference between games of chance and games of skill.

[Dan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An astoundingly comprehensive description, and then strategy analysis, of dice games categorised into forms. So you have Progression push-your-luck games like Pig, Category games like Yahtzee, and Bluffing games like Perudo. And then within each example Knizia rattles off a few variants.

It’s a great work, and allows months of nightly gaming from among the most ordinary of game pieces.

This would have been five stars if it had started half way through: the early games are historical curios or kids games, with few if any decisions. The later games are far, far more interesting.

[Zenpvnk]

If you are a dice nut, even half as nutty as me, you need this book. Don't walk in a bar or coffee shop without this and half a dozen dice in your pocket.

[FranklinTV · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okish book - - I guess one for the collection - - yet to play any games. A bit dry and disappointing, and I would be more likely to read the Sid Sackson books.