Sometimes you want a quick game to fill a few minutes before your real game begins. In honor of the high temperatures this summer, these cool games are all based on the Winter Olympics.
Speed Skating
Play begins with the tallest player. Each player may either roll one die or pass. Once a player passes, he must pass for the remainder of the game. If the die result is even, he places the die in front of himself. If the result is odd, he places it in front of any player. Play then proceeds clockwise. If the total of the dice in front of a player are ever greater than 15, he is out of the game. When every player has passed, the winner is whomever has the highest total that is not greater than 15.
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Curling
This game is for two players, or two teams of two. Each player or team begins with eight dice of one color, different from that of the opponent’s dice. The person who lives the furthest north goes first and play proceeds clockwise around the table with teammates sitting opposite each other. On his turn, a player may make a skill shot or a power shot. If he goes for a skill shot, he may roll between one to three dice and keeps any one value, though any ‘6’’s rolled are immediately discarded. If multiple dice roll the same value, the player must keep all of the dice which rolled that value. These dice are all placed in the target area.
If the player goes for a power shot, he rolls one die. If the value does not equal any of the values in the target, the power die is discarded. If the value does match any die in the target, the die remains in the target and the player must increase or decrease the value of each other die with that value by 1. All dice of the rolled value must be treated equally. If any die’s value ever drops below 1 or above 6, it is immediately discarded.
If there are ever three dice with the same value in the target, the rolling player must discard all but one of them. After each player has gotten to take 5 turns, the player with the highest value (or ties for the highest value), gets one point. If he also has the second highest value (or ties for the second highest value), he gets a second point. The player who did not start that round begins the second round. Play typically proceeds for 3 rounds for a quick game or 10 rounds for a full game
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Biathalon
Begin by drawing a map of the course. There should be two sets of 15 open spaces followed by 5 squates with “X” and then another 15 open spaces.
Each player places a unique marker on the Start square and takes 8 dice which he divides between a skiing pile and a shooting pile. Everyone agrees on one person to start and play then proceeds clockwise around the table. If the active player’s marker is on a plain square, he rolls all of his skiing dice and moves forward that many squares, stopping at any square with an ‘X’ in it. If the active player’s marker is on a square with an ‘X’, he rolls his shooting dice instead. For every ‘5’ he rolls, he may move forward one square. When he moves off of the final ‘X’ in a group, he may move dice from his skiing pile to his shooting pile and vice versa. Instead of making a normal movement, a player may attempt to attack another player. Pick an opponent and roll all of his shooting dice and total all the dice that do not read ‘5’. If the total is greater than the number of squares between the player and his opponent, the opponent must discard one of his dice (his choice) for each ‘5’ the player rolled. The first person to reach the ‘End’ square wins.
