How to Play the Santa’s Sleigh Christmas Dice Game

There is no better time to play games then the holidays, which is why I created Santa’s Sleigh Dice game. You’ll be on the hunt for a Santa, an elf, a sleigh and of course presents. Santa’s Sleigh Dice game makes a great addition to a festively fun family game night that includes Satna Uno, Grinch Dice, Christmas Shenanigans card game and Candy Cane card game. So many games, can you hear the laughter already?

Back to the Christmas Dice game Santa’s Sleigh.

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What you Need for The Christams Dice Game Santa’s Sleigh

To play you will need five dice and a score sheet. The object is to be the first player to get to 50 present points. If you need some new dice, we love to play so that everyone has their own dice in their favorite colours, you can shop here; Canadians, here.

Santa’s Sleigh Dice Rules

Before scoring, you will need to roll a one for Santa, a three for an elf and a six for the sleigh. When you have a 1, 3 and 6 the other two dice count for the amount of presents loaded into the sleigh.

How to Play

First, you roll all five dice. You get three rolls per turn. If you roll a 1, 3and/or 6, set these aside. If you roll more than one of any of these numbers, keep one and re-roll the others. Next, re-roll any other dice, trying to get the reaming numbers. Once the 1, 3, and 6 are rolled, the other two dice must be rolled together.

When you have rolled three times and haven’t gotten a 1, 3 or 6, you score zero for the round and play passes to the next player.

When you have a 1, 3, and 6, add the other two dice together to get a present score. You do not need to use all three rolls. For example, if you roll 1, 3, 6, and 5, 5 in the first roll, then you can accept a present score of 10.

Winning Santa’s Sleigh Dice Game

The fist player to load 50 presents in the sleigh is the winner.

Variations

To make the game shorter or longer, change the amount of presents needed to win. Alternatively, you can choose to play a set amount of rounds, say 10 rounds, and the player with the highest present score wins.

Here are some examples:

Player one:

A Santa's Sleigh Dice Game player with a roll of 1, 3, 6, 5, 6
Lucky roll! A sleigh, a Santa, and elf and a present score of 11!

Player two:

A Santa's Sleigh Dice Game roll of a five, a six, a three, a six and 2 fours shows a good first roll
A sleigh and an elf, a good first roll.
A Santa's Sleigh Dice Game player with a roll of 3, 6, 4, 2, 4
Roll two doesn’t have a Santa so roll all three dice again.
Santa's Sligh Dice Game player with a rolling of a 3, 6, 1 and 2, 4
Roll three has a Santa and a present score of 6.

Player one, turn two:

A Santa's Sleigh Dice Game roll of a 2 twos, 2 sixes and one four; keep one six and roll again
Roll one–keep one of the sixes and roll the rest again.
A Santa's Sleigh Dice Game roll of a two, a  three and 2 ones; the three and one of the ones are keeps and the one and two can be rolled again or kept for a score of 3
A Santa and an elf. Roll the one and two or keep the present score of 3.
A Santa's Sleigh Dice Game roll of a sic and a one give a score of 7
A present score of 7 is added to player one’s overall score for a total of 18!

The Fun is Loaded

Santa’s Sleigh Dice game will have you laughing as you roll all sleighs or find yourself in a Santa convention (a roll of multiple 1s). A good time is sure to be had by everyone as you fill your sleighs with presents.

For more holiday fun check out our Big List of Christmas games. And visit the Family Game Shelf shop for tons of holiday cheer with games like Christmas Whacky Putt–the dice mini golf game, Don’t Smack Santa, and 5 Seconds! Also check out our line of escape rooms for kids!

Save the 12 Days of Christmas escape room book for kids

Available now: Save the 12 Days of Christmas! An escape room book for kids.

Get yours today!

For even more family fun, dowload our FREE Quick Play Refernce book for dice games in our reference library! This booklet is handy to have on hand as a reference to our favorite dice games.

I’d love to hear what you think of this game in the comments or what other Christmas twists on games you have tried!