Drop Dead

What You Need

• 5 dice
• Paper and a pencil for the scores

Setup

Write both names on the paper. Each player rolls all five dice once. Higher total goes first. Agree on how many rounds you will play. Five is a good number. One round takes about a minute.

How a Turn Works

1. Roll all five dice.
2. Check for 2s and 5s. If any die shows a 2 or a 5, you score nothing for this roll. Set every 2 and 5 aside. They are dead for the rest of your turn.
3. If no die shows a 2 or a 5, add up all the dice and add the total to your score.
4. Roll the dice you have left. Repeat from step 2.
5. When your last die dies, you have dropped dead. Your turn ends. Pass the dice.

There is no choice to stop. You keep rolling until every die is dead. Unlike Farkle or Pig, Drop Dead has no push-your-luck decision. It is pure dice, which is exactly why it works for small kids and for a noisy bar.

Example. You roll 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. The 2 and the 5 are dead. Score zero for the roll. Roll the other three and get 1, 4, 6. No 2 or 5, so score 11. Roll again and get 3, 3, 5. The 5 dies, score zero. Roll two dice, get 6 and 6, score 12. Roll again, get 2 and 4. The 2 dies. Roll the last die, get 1. Score 1. Roll again, get 5. Dead. Turn total 24.

Scoring

Your score is the sum of every roll that had no 2 and no 5. A roll with even one 2 or 5 adds nothing, no matter what the other dice show.

Winning

After both players have taken one turn, the higher score wins the round. Play your agreed number of rounds and add the totals. Highest total wins. If the totals are tied, play one more round.

Two-Player Notes

Drop Dead is written for any number of players, one turn each. With two players a single round is over in a couple of minutes, so play several. Going second gives you the target to beat, which changes nothing here because there are no decisions to make.

Strategy Tips

• There is no strategy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
• Each die has a 1 in 3 chance of dying on every roll. All five survive the first roll about 13 percent of the time, so expect most turns to open with a zero.
• An average turn scores about 16 points. A 30-point turn is a big one.

Variations

• Single round. One turn each, highest score wins. Good for deciding who buys the next drink.