Sevens Dice Game Rules

The number seven is often thought to be a lucky number. But in this dice game, rolling seven is considered a bad thing.

You'll need three or more players and six  6-sided dice.

How do you play Sevens?

The game is played in an agreed-upon number of rounds. In each round, all players take a turn rolling the dice.

One player is chosen to begin and then play proceeds clockwise around the table.

Each player in turn rolls six dice and removes any combination of numbers that add up to seven. The aim is to score the highest possible total by adding together the numbers shown on the remaining dice. 

The first player has the option of rolling up to three times on their turn. After each roll, they remove sets of dice that add up to seven (one or more sets may have to be removed), and all these dice are set aside and are not used again during the player's turn. Then the numbers on the remaining dice are used to calculate their score. The first player can either accept the score or they can choose to roll again. If they choose to roll again, and subsequently roll any combination of dice that total seven, those dice must be removed as well. The player may then keep their score after two rolls, or risk rolling one more time to increase their score.

All the following players take their turns in the same manner except that they are then limited to the same number of rolls, or fewer, that the first player took.

The round ends once all players have had a turn. The player to the left of the previous first player begins each new round.

Example: Tim, Steve and Jennifer are playing a friendly game of Sevens. Tim goes first and rolls a 6, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2. He removes the 6 and a 1 (which add up to seven), and then decides whether to score 6 points with the remaining dice (2+2+1+1=6) or roll again and try and score more points. Tim chooses to roll the remaining 4 dice again, and this time he rolls a 6, 1, 6, 6. He removes another 6 and 1 and sees that he would score 12 points with the remaining two 6s. He could choose to throw a third time with the remaining two dice, but since he's already scoring the maximum number of points for two dice (12) he chooses to score the 12 points and end his turn.

Tim's total score for his turn is 12, so Steve and Jennifer each have up to two throws on their turns to try and score better than Tim.

How do you win the game?

Once all rounds have been played, the player with the highest score wins.