How to play
Five Dice is the classic score-sheet dice game: five dice, three rolls, thirteen boxes. Two players take turns, and after thirteen turns each the higher total wins. Nothing is hidden, so in friend mode you simply pass the phone back and forth with no cover screen.
Choose Computer or Friend in the menu. Then on your turn:
- Tap Roll. All five dice are thrown.
- Tap any dice you want to keep. Held dice get a green frame and stay put.
- Roll again up to two more times, changing which dice you hold between rolls.
- Pick a box on the score sheet. Your column shows what each open box would score with the current dice, so you never have to add up. You may stop and score after the first or second roll, and you must score after the third. If nothing fits, you have to write a zero somewhere.
Each box can be used once. When all thirteen are filled for both players, the game ends.
The boxes
Upper section. Ones through Sixes score the total of that number only: three fours in the Fours box is 12. If your six upper boxes add up to 63 or more (three of each number), you earn a 35-point bonus.
Lower section.
| Box | Needs | Scores |
|---|---|---|
| Three of a kind | three dice the same | total of all five dice |
| Four of a kind | four dice the same | total of all five dice |
| Full house | three of one number and two of another | 25 |
| Small straight | four numbers in a row | 30 |
| Large straight | five numbers in a row | 40 |
| Five of a kind | all five the same | 50 |
| Chance | anything | total of all five dice |
Extra fives of a kind. If you roll five of a kind again after already scoring 50 in that box, you get a 100-point bonus. The roll then acts as a joker: it must go in the upper box of that number if it is still open; if not, it may fill any open lower box for full value (Full house 25, straights 30 or 40, the others the dice total); if nothing is open there either, it goes in an open upper box as a zero. The same joker rules apply, without the bonus, if your five-of-a-kind box already holds a zero.
Strategy
Aim for the bonus early. Three of each number gives exactly 63. Every roll of four fives or four sixes puts you ahead of that pace; two or fewer puts you behind. Keep an eye on the running upper total under the sheet.
Hold the big groups. Three or four of a kind on the first roll is worth chasing: it can become four of a kind, full house or five of a kind, and it fills an upper box well in the worst case.
Straights are fragile. With 1-2-3-4 or 2-3-4-5 already showing, one more roll usually finishes a small straight; large straights need the exact missing number. Do not throw away a good three of a kind to hunt for one.
Spend zeros wisely. Late in the game every player has to dump a bad roll. Ones, Twos and Four of a kind are the cheapest boxes to sacrifice. Chance is your safety valve; try not to burn it on a weak roll early.
About the computer player
The computer keeps the largest group of matching dice or a four-card run when the straight boxes are still open, stops early on five of a kind, large straights, full houses and strong fours of a kind, and otherwise rolls all three times. When scoring it compares the actual score with what each box is normally worth, pushes for the upper bonus, and avoids wasting valuable boxes on zeros. In 100 simulated games between two copies of this player the average total per player was above 180 points, and either seat wins about as often as the other.
If you enjoy Five Dice, try Five in a Row or Four in a Row next.
