Crag Dice Game Rules
Crag is a dice game for 2-5 players. A game typically takes 15-25 minutes, and the recommended age is 6+.
Rules for Crag: A pocket-sized cousin of Yatzy with three dice, one reroll and thirteen quick categories, where a crag scores 50.
Setup
Crag is a small, fast member of the Yatzy family, played with just three dice and a score sheet of thirteen rows. Draw the sheet yourself: ones to sixes plus the seven combination rows. It suits two to five players and is over in about fifteen minutes.
How to play
On your turn you roll all three dice. You then have one reroll: throw again with as many of the dice as you like, or stand on what you have. There is never a third roll.
Then enter the result in an open row on your sheet. Each row is used once, so the game lasts thirteen rounds. If nothing fits, you write a zero in a row you are willing to sacrifice.
Scoring
The rows look like this:
- Crag: a pair plus a third die bringing the total to 13, so 6-6-1, 5-5-3 or 4-4-5. Worth 50 points.
- Thirteen: a total of 13 with no pair, so 2-5-6 or 3-4-6. Worth 26 points.
- Three of a kind: worth 25 points.
- Low straight: 1-2-3, worth 20 points.
- High straight: 4-5-6, worth 20 points.
- Odd straight: 1-3-5, worth 20 points.
- Even straight: 2-4-6, worth 20 points.
- Ones to sixes: the sum of the dice showing that number.
Winning
After thirteen rounds each player adds up their sheet. There is no bonus, so the highest total wins. With only one reroll the margins are tight, and a crag or two usually decides the game.
Similar games
Yatzy (alias Yatzi)
Roll five dice three times, fill the fifteen rows on the sheet and chase the 50 point bonus in the upper section.
Yacht (alias Cheerio, Yot or Yam)
The 1938 game Yahtzee grew out of, with twelve rows, five dice, three rolls and no upper section bonus.
Balut
Fill seven categories of four boxes each over 28 rounds, then turn your dice total into the points that decide the winner.