Ship, Captain, Crew, and Treasure Dice Game

Argh, matey! Do ye be wantin’ a game for yer whole family? One that be full of pirates an’ treasure?

Aye, laddie. Then ye’ll be a wantin’ to play the Ship, Captain, Crew, and Treasure dice game!

All that you need to play this fun family game are 5 dice and a free printable that explains what you need to roll.

Here’s what the free printable looks like:

So, here are the directions on how to play.

Select a player to go first. She will have three chances to roll the dice to get her ‘treasure’ or to earn points.

She rolls all five dice at once. If she gets a 6 (the ship), she pulls that dice out and sets it aside. She needs to set aside a 6 first because you have to have the ship before you can have anything else.

If she has a 5 (the captain), she can set that dice aside, too. That is what she needs after getting her ship. You can’t save a 5 (the captain) if you don’t have a 6 (the ship).

If she also happens to have a 4 (the crew), she sets that aside. You can’t set aside a 4 (the crew) unless you have a captain and a ship. (The printable helps kids know the order of numbers to get. They start at the top of the paper with the number 6 (ship) and work their way down through the other numbers.).

She can then add the 2 remaining dice together. This is her ‘treasure’ — or her score which she gets by adding together the points of the two remaining dice.

If she doesn’t roll a 6 in her first roll, she picks up all of the dice and rolls them again. She sets aside a 6 if she gets one. She can also set aside a 5 or 4 if she has them.

If she doesn’t have any of those numbers, she rolls all of the dice for one last time.

If by chance she rolls a 6, and a 5, and a 4, she can then add the remaining 2 dice together. That is the amount of ‘treasure’ or points that she gets for that round.

It’s possible that a player can roll a 6, a 5, and a 4 in only one or two rolls. If she does, she has the option of using the remaining rolls that she has (with the two remaining dice) in an effort to get the highest score possible by adding their points together.

After she has rolled the dice for her third roll, she has to keep the total of the new roll even if it is lower than her previous score.

If she does not roll a 6, 5 and 4 with her three rolls, then her ‘treasure’ score is zero for that round and she gives all of the dice to the next player.

Let me give you an example. Annie rolls a 5, 4, 3, 2, and a 2. She doesn’t have a 6 so she picks up all of her dice and rolls them all again.

On her second roll, she gets a 6, 3, 2 , 5, and a 1. She can set aside the 6 and a 5. She picks up the remaining dice and rolls them one last time. She rolls a 4, 5, and a 1. She sets the 4 aside. She adds the 5 and 1 and gets 6 for her score for that round.

Here’s another example. Donna rolls a 6, 5, 3, 3, 3. She can pull out the 6 and the 5. She rolls again and gets a 6, 4, and a 3. She sets the 4 aside. She can add 6 and 3 for a score of 9. OR, she can take a chance and roll them both again in hopes that she’ll get a higher score. She rolls again and gets a 5 and a 1. The total is 6 and this is her final score because she has to keep the total of her last roll. That total is her score for that round.

When everyone has had a turn, that is the end of a round.

The game continues for 6 rounds. Players add their points for each round. The player with the most ‘treasure’ or the highest score is the winner!

Avast, ye scurvy dog! Make sure ye play this dice game or I’ll make you walk the plank!