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Jeopardy Dice Games
Todd Neller
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For jeopardy (a.k.a. press/push your luck) dice games, the dominant type of decision is whether or not to jeopardize previous gains by rolling for potential greater gains. Most jeopardy dice games can be further subdivided into two categories: jeopardy race games and jeopardy approach games. In jeopardy race games, the object is to be the first to meet or exceed a goal score (e.g. Pass the Pigs, Cosmic Wimpout, Can't Stop). Most all commercial jeopardy dice games are jeopardy race games. In jeopardy approach games, the object is most closely approach a goal score without exceeding it (e.g. Twenty-One, Macao).

An applet featuring the jeopardy dice game Pig with an optimal computer opponent can be found at http://cs.gettysburg.edu/projects/pig/

Reiner Knizia describes a separate class of "progression [dice] games that give you the opportunity to improve your results successively." (p. 103, "Dice Games Properly Explained"). Indeed, such games (e.g. Poker Dice) allow one to jeopardize one's results, but Knizia distinguishes progression dice games from jeopardy dice games in that jeopardy dice games allow the possibility of each player immediately losing all results in an individual progression. "You still focus on progressing and maximising your results. But now the stakes are rising. If things go wrong, you lose it all." (p. 127)

If you know of jeopardy dice games not listed below, please add it and e-mail me at the address given at http://cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/

Other jeopardy race games:

Pig family:
Pig Dice (1942, Parker Brothers)
Pig (~1950?, ???)
See also http://cs.gettysburg.edu/projects/pig/piglinks.html

Ten Thousand Family:
Ten Thousand (a.k.a. Dix Mille, Teutonic Poker, and Berliner Macke; source: Reiner Knizia "Dice Games Properly Explained")
Zilch (1980, Twinson), Bupkis (1981, Milco), High Rollers (1992, El Rancho Escondido Ents.), Keepers (Avid Press), Gold Train (1995, Strunk) (Source: http://members.aol.com/dicetalk/rules/10000.txt )
Top Dog (John N. Hanson Co.) (Source: Sid Sackson, "A Gamut of Games", 2nd ed, 1982)

Other jeopardy approach games:

Macao, Twenty-One (a.k.a. Vingt-et-Un, Pontoon, Blackjack), Sixteen (a.k.a. Golden Sixteen), Octo, Poker Hunt (source: Reiner Knizia "Dice Games Properly Explained")
Thirty-Six (source: John Scarne, "Scarne on Dice" )
Altars (source: http://members.aol.com/dicetalk/rules/altars.txt )

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Posted Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:09 pm
Edited Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:16 pm
1. Board Game: Pass the Pigs [Average Rating:5.21 Overall Rank:5224]
Todd Neller
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Pass the Pigs is perhaps the best known commercial jeopardy race game of the Pig family (see http://cs.gettysburg.edu/projects/pig/piglinks.html ).
2. Board Game: Can't Stop [Average Rating:6.93 Overall Rank:264]
Todd Neller
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Can't Stop is one of my favorite elaborate jeopardy race games, where several races occur simultaneously with the object being to win three races first.
3. Board Game: Cosmic Wimpout [Average Rating:6.03 Overall Rank:1785]
Todd Neller
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Cosmic Wimpout is perhaps the best known of the numerous commercial variants of Ten Thousand.
4. Board Game: Skunk [Average Rating:5.37 Unranked]
Todd Neller
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Skunk was an early commercial jeopardy race game of the Pig family (see http://cs.gettysburg.edu/projects/pig/piglinks.html ).
Gary Webster
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One of the first games my family played when I was a really, really little kid (like 5 or 6! Just after they invented dirt!). I didn't think I could remember back that far. The 'geek has helped my memory, holding off dementia a little longer...:)
5. Board Game: Exxtra [Average Rating:6.31 Overall Rank:1207]
Todd Neller
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Exxtra is a jeopardy race game by Reiner Knizia.
6. Board Game: V Game of Five Thousand [Average Rating:6.05 Unranked]
Todd Neller
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Five Thousand is a Ten Thousand variant by Parker Brothers.
7. Board Game: Farkel [Average Rating:5.36 Overall Rank:4845]
Todd Neller
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Farkel (a.k.a. Farkle) is one of the better known Ten Thousand variants.
8. Board Game: Greed [Average Rating:5.17 Overall Rank:4860]
Todd Neller
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$Greed is a Ten Thousand variant by The Great American Greed Company and Avalon Hill.
9. Board Game: Fill or Bust [Average Rating:5.61 Overall Rank:3971]
Todd Neller
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Fill or Bust is a Ten Thousand variant by Bowman Games.
10. Board Game: Fill or Bust [Average Rating:5.61 Overall Rank:3971]
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Volle Lotte is the Abacus Spiele production of Fill or Bust.
11. Board Game: Six Cubes [Average Rating:5.31 Overall Rank:4459]
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Six Cubes is a Ten Thousand variant by the Fun and Games Group.
12. Board Game: Reiner Knizia's Decathlon [Average Rating:6.21 Overall Rank:1601]
Todd Neller
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(Suggested by Michael Van Biesbrouck)
Although Knizia's Decathlon as a whole is not a jeopardy dice game, individual "disciplines" of the game could be considered jeopardy subgames, allowing the possibility of a player losing all points for each attempt: Long-Jump, Shot Put (each attempt is a single turn of Pig), High Jump, Discus, Pole Vault, and Javelin. Other non-jeopardy progression disciplines: 100 Metres, 400 Metres, 110 Metre Hurdles, and 1500 Metres.
13. Board Game: Pig Dice [Average Rating:5.56 Unranked]
Todd Neller
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Pig Dice is perhaps the earliest commercial variant of the pig game Pig (see http://cs.gettysburg.edu/projects/pig/piglinks.html ). Optimal play for this variant has been computed and is visualized at http://cs.gettysburg.edu/projects/pig/pigCompare.html .
14. Board Game: Pickomino [Average Rating:6.49 Overall Rank:649]
Todd Neller
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In Heckmeck am Bratwurmeck (a.k.a. Pickomino), one is not always faced with a jeopardy decision. However, players are often faced with a decision to either claim a less valuable "worm helping" and end their turn, versus rolling remaining dice again to potentially improve their gained worm helping, or possibly have to return one to the "grill".
15. Board Game: Dungeon Dice [Average Rating:5.70 Overall Rank:3845]
Todd Neller
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This dungeon-escape-themed game is a jeopardy race game with tunnel cards tracking a player's points.
16. Board Game: Risk 'n' Roll 2000 [Average Rating:4.50 Overall Rank:5182]
Todd Neller
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Risk 'n' Roll 2000 is a Five Thousand variant by Hasbro.
17. Board Game: Don't You Forget It [Average Rating:5.55 Unranked]
Todd Neller
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Don't You Forget It is a Five Thousand variant by Pressman. In this variant, dice have the words "FOR", "GET", and "IT" on them in addition to numbers. When rolled, these words must be set aside. The jeopardy here is not in lacking dice to set aside and score, but rather in having all three words set aside.
18. Board Game: Dice 10,000 [Average Rating:7.00 Unranked]
Todd Neller
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Dice 10,000 is another Ten Thousand variant with an additional victory requirement. The winner must achieve 10,000 points with possession of a gold chip which is passed to the next player whenever the owner busts.
19. Board Game: Go Nuts [Average Rating:6.19 Overall Rank:3338]
Todd Neller
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5 dice have squirrels, nuts, and cars. With each roll, nuts are accumulated to the turn total, whereas cars eliminate dice. Score nothing in a turn if all dice are eliminated. This game is reminiscent of Ten Thousand, but has a squirrely real-time scoring opportunity against opponents.
2 comments [Hide]
Gil Hova
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Very nice list! I usually wind up calling these games "push-your-luck" games. They have a great tension inside them, because of the agonizing decision about whether to continue or stop, and because no player is ever truly "out" of the game.
Todd Neller
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A geeklist of more general "press your luck" games can be found at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listi...

A BGG forum thread on "press your luck" games can be found at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geekforum.php3?action=viewthrea...
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