Sly Dice Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Set-Up
• Playing the Game
  • Phase 1 — Rolling the Dice
  • Phase 2 — Claiming a Combination
    • Step 1 — Claiming a Combination
    • Step 2 — Accusation
    • Step 3 — Scoring the Combination
  • Phase 3 — Cleanup
• End of the Game and Final Scoring
• The Winner
• The Combinations
  • Combinations with Varying Victory Points (fig. 4)
  • Combinations with Fixed Victory Points (fig. 5)
• Special Powers (fig. 6)

Game Contents

• 36 cards
  • 18 Combination cards (fig. 1a): each shows a special power (if any), a combination, and points.
  • 18 Bonus cards:
    • 9 Successful Bluffing cards (fig. 1b)
    • 9 False Accusation cards (fig. 1c)
• 15 Dice (fig. 1d)
• 36 Player Tokens in 4 different colours (fig. 1e)
• 1 First Player Token (fig. 1f)
• 4 Shields (fig. 1g)
• 1 Score Pad (fig. 1h)

Set-Up

(fig. 2)

• Give each player 9 tokens and a shield in their chosen colour, as well as 3 dice. Each player puts the shield upright in front of them, puts the 3 dice behind it on their side and the tokens next to it.
• Take the "Higher or Lower" (fig. 5l) combination card and put it face up on the table.
• Shuffle the rest of the combination cards and put them in a face down Draw Pile. Draw 3 cards and put them face up on the table next to the "Higher or Lower" card.
• Place 3 dice next to the draw pile — these are the Common Dice.
• Place any remaining dice, tokens and shields back in the game box.
• Put the Successful Bluffing and False Accusation cards into two separate face up piles next to the Draw Pile.
• Randomly determine the starting player and give them the First Player Token.
• Decide who will be the score keeper — this player takes the score pad and a pen and will keep track of all players' points throughout the game.

Playing the Game

The game is played in rounds. The number of rounds depends on the number of players:

• 2 players — 8 rounds
• 3 players — 9 rounds
• 4 players — 8 rounds

Each round is divided into 3 phases — Rolling the Dice, Claiming a Combination, Cleanup.

Phase 1 — Rolling the Dice

The starting player rolls the 3 Common Dice in the middle of the table. These dice are rolled only once per round and the first roll must be kept. These 3 dice can be used by all players to create combinations.

Then each player rolls all 3 of their dice behind their shield so that other players can not see what has been rolled. Each player can then roll their dice two more times, but for each reroll the player must put one of their dice in front of their shield. This die is now locked (cannot be rerolled) and visible to all players. Thus in the second roll the player can roll only 2 of their dice and in the third roll — only 1 last die.

Example: John rolls 6, 5 and 2. He decides to keep the 6 and puts this die in front of his shield, and rerolls the other 2 dice. He rolls 6 and 3 and again chooses to keep the second 6 and puts it visible to other players. Then he rolls the remaining die which he must keep behind his shield invisible to other players.

Important rules:

• If a player decides to put one of their dice in front of the shield this action triggers a re-roll and at least one die must be re-rolled. If a player wants to keep their roll, they have to keep the dice behind their shield.
• Each player may stop after the first or second roll if they are satisfied with the roll.
• The phase "Rolling the Dice" is played simultaneously, as it does not matter what other players roll. After all players have rolled the dice as often as they want and can this phase is over.

Phase 2 — Claiming a Combination

Starting with the First player each player can now claim any combination available on the table. The combination may be created by using the player's own dice, both in front and behind the shield, and the common dice in the middle, combining them as the player sees fit.

This phase is divided into 3 steps:

1. Claiming a combination.
2. Accusation.
3. Scoring the combination.

Step 1 — Claiming a Combination

The player chooses one of the available combinations and loudly says that they have created this combination. The player may or may not be bluffing, but as at least one of their dice is hidden the others do not know for sure. The player can also claim a combination that is created only by the visible dice thus skipping step 2 (see below).

Example: The common dice show 4, 6 and 5 and John has two visible dice in front of him — 6 and 6. His last die is behind the shield and shows a 5. John says "I have a Full House". However, other players can't be sure of that since they can't see John's last die.

Step 2 — Accusation

When a player has made a claim, each other player, starting from the claiming player's left, now has the opportunity to accuse him of bluffing. The player on the left has to either accuse him of bluffing ("You're bluffing!") or say "Pass". If this player says "Pass" the next player in clockwise order has to choose between the two options and so on. If all other players decide to pass this step is over, however, as soon as any player decides to accuse the claiming player of bluffing several things take place:

a) The claiming player has to reveal all their hidden dice.

b) If the claiming player was not bluffing this step ends and the player who accused them of bluffing takes one False Accusation card from the corresponding pile. That is a penalty for accusing another player wrongly.

c) If the claiming player was bluffing then their turn ends immediately and they do not receive any points in this round. The accusing player does not get any bonuses — their reward is purely not letting a bluff slip through.

Step 3 — Scoring the Combination

This step can be triggered in two ways.

a) If the claiming player was wrongly accused of bluffing and had the combination they claimed, they put their token on the corresponding combination card with the side marked X up. The score keeper immediately writes down the points for the claiming player according to the combination that was scored.

b) If everyone passed and the claiming player was not accused of bluffing, they put their token on the corresponding combination card with the X side up. Again the points are written down by the score keeper. The claiming player does not have to show whether they really had created this combination or were bluffing. However, if the claiming player was bluffing they now may reveal their hidden dice and take one Successful Bluffing card from the corresponding pile. That is a reward for having bluffed successfully.

Note! If a player's dice are sufficient to complete the claimed combination they must score it.

Example: If a player claims to have four 2's and then reveals that they have five the condition of having four 2's is still met thus they have told the truth.

Important! Each player can score each combination only once per game!

When the first player has claimed the combination and gone through the corresponding steps the next player in clockwise order does the same and so on. When each player has claimed one combination (either successfully or not) the Claiming Phase is over.

Important! The False Accusation and Successful Bluffing bonus cards are considered to be unlimited. Should players run out of them during the game they must use a substitute to represent additional bonus cards.

Phase 3 — Cleanup

• All players take their dice and put them behind their shields.
• Reveal the top card of the draw pile and add it to the available combinations on the table.
• The starting player passes the First Player Token to the player on their left.

After the Cleanup Phase the round has ended and a new round begins with Phase 1.

End of the Game and Final Scoring

The game ends after 8 rounds in a 2 or 4 player game, or 9 rounds in a 3 player game. Now players count points for their bonus cards. The Successful Bluffing and False Accusation cards are counted separately as follows:

• A player's first Successful Bluffing card is worth 10 points, the second 15 points, the third 20 points and so on (each additional card is worth 5 more points than the previous one).
• A player's first False Accusation card is worth minus 10 points, the second minus 15 points, the third minus 20 points and so on (each additional card is worth 5 more negative points than the previous one).

Important! Players are not allowed to ignore or discard a pair of Successful Bluffing and False Accusation cards because that will reduce the value of their remaining bonus cards.

Example: John has 3 Successful Bluffing cards and 2 False Accusation cards. Thus he receives 10 + 15 + 20 – 10 – 15 = 20 points (fig. 3).

The score keeper writes each player's points for the bonus cards in the corresponding line on the score pad.

The Winner

The score keeper counts each player's total points and the winner is the player with the most points. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Successful Bluffing cards is the winner. If a tie is still not resolved, the tied players share the victory.

The Combinations

Note! As the common dice in the middle of the table are used by all players, we will refer to them as if the player has rolled them themself and they are their dice. All combinations can be created with the 6 dice the player has available (3 in their own possession and 3 in the middle).

Combinations with Varying Victory Points (fig. 4)

• Ones (fig. 4a) — for each 1 the player has rolled they score 1 point.
• Twos (fig. 4b) — for each 2 the player has rolled they score 2 points.
• Threes (fig. 4c) — for each 3 the player has rolled they score 3 points.
• Fours (fig. 4d) — for each 4 the player has rolled they score 4 points.
• Fives (fig. 4e) — for each 5 the player has rolled they score 5 points.
• Sixes (fig. 4f) — for each 6 the player has rolled they score 6 points.

Combinations with Fixed Victory Points (fig. 5)

• 3 of a kind (fig. 5a) — 3 dice showing the same number.

• 4 of a kind (fig. 5b) — 4 dice showing the same number.

• 5 of a kind (fig. 5c) — 5 dice showing the same number.

• Full House (fig. 5d) — 3 dice showing the same number plus 2 other dice showing the same number (this number may be the same on the triplet and the pair).

• Three Pairs (fig. 5e) — 2 dice showing the same number plus 2 other dice showing the same number plus 2 other dice showing the same number (this number may be the same on 2 or even all 3 pairs).

• Large Straight (fig. 5f) — 6 dice showing each number from 1 to 6.

• Small Straight (fig. 5g) — five dice showing each number from 1 to 5 or each number from 2 to 6.

• 16 or lower (fig. 5h) — the sum of all 6 dice is equal to or smaller than 16.

• 26 or greater (fig. 5i) — the sum of all 6 dice is equal to or greater than 26.

Special Powers (fig. 6)

Cards with the combinations Ones, Twos, Threes and Fours also have a special power depicted on them. Whenever a player scores a combination that has a special power they put their token on this card blank side up. Afterwards the player can use the corresponding special power once per game. After the power has been used the token is turned X side up thus marking that the power was used.

• Change a die result (fig. 6a) — The player turns one of their 3 dice (not including the common dice in the middle!) to any number they want. The die may be either in front or behind their shield. The player can do this after rolling the dice but before claiming a combination.

• Repeat a combination (fig. 6b) — The player can score a combination they have already scored for a second time. Important! If the player tries to score a combination by bluffing and someone calls their bluff and they do not get to score it, the special power still has been used.

• Sum of two dice (fig. 6c) — The player can use the sum of any 2 available dice (their 3 dice and the 3 common dice in the middle) as one die and one number. The player must state that they are using this special power and turn the token with the X side up before claiming a combination.

  Example: The common dice show 1, 3 and 3 and John's dice show 2, 2 and 4. John can use this power to add one 3 and one 2 together to make it a 5 and score the Small Straight.

  Important! If the player tries to score a combination by bluffing and someone calls their bluff and they do not get to score it, the special power still has been used.

• Restart the rolling phase (fig. 6d) — The player restarts their roll at any point during the Rolling the Dice Phase. If the player uses this special power they again have a fresh three rolls and have to roll all three of their dice with the first roll.