We have another sporty dice game for you today: Bowling Dice! If you’ve ever thrown a bowling ball, then this game is one you have to try. No rental shoes necessary.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not really a sporty girl but you’d never know it with the amount of sport dice games we have on this blog: Baseball, Hockey Dice (an original Game), Winter sports, Tennis, and Tug of War. This time, however, I have an ace in my pocket. My husband was a big bowler in years past and he helped me out with the scoring.
If you’ve scored in bowling before, the scoring will be natural for you. If you haven’t, like me, it takes a little bit of learning. But it’s worth it to play this game.
In this post we’ll cover how to play, the rules, the variations and how to win the Bowling Dice Game! Let’s get our bowl on.
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What Do I Need For Bowling Dice?
You will need two dice and a score sheet. We have a score sheet in our free Fun Library (you can get your password by signing up for our newsletter and be in loop for all the new games! See the black box below). Or you can get our Bowling Dice Game Book here (Canadians here) for hours of fun.
We love playing so that everyone has a set of dice in their favorite color. If you need more dice (and who doesn’t?), you can shop dice here. Canadians here.
How Do I Play the Bowling Dice Game?
To start, each turn is called a frame. To start a frame, you will roll dice. You must choose at least one dice to set aside to score with. You can then choose to reroll the second dice to better your score.
If you roll two 5s on your first roll, it is a strike. We’ll cover how to score this later.
If you roll a 5 and then a second 5 on your second turn, it is a spare. Again, we’ll cover this later in scoring.
If you roll a 6 this is a gutter ball and scores 0.
After your two rolls, you mark your score on the sheet in the top boxes. You will then add the numbers together as your score for that bowl and then add that number to your total score. It is now the next player’s turn.
How Do I Score Bowling Dice?
To score a bowl that doesn’t have a strike or bowl, add the two dice numbers together to get your score for that frame. For example, if you rolled a 4 and then a 3 your score would be 7.
Strikes
When two 5s are rolled at the same time, it is a strike. You will mark this in the frame space as an X. No score will be recoded in this frame yet. Strikes count as 10 points plus your score in the next frame. On your next turn, roll the dice as usual. This number is now added to 10 and recoded in the previous frame’s score. You now record that number as the current frame’s score.
Spares
When you roll two dice in two rolls, it is a spare. You will mark this as a slash and no score will be recorded in that frame’s space yet. On your next turn, roll the dice. The dice that you choose to keep first is recorded in the top box for that frame. It is now added to 10 and marked as the previous frame’s score. You will now roll the second dice (or mark the second dice) for the current frame’s score.
Gutter Balls
When you roll a 6, it is a gutter ball and is marker with a dash and is counted as 0 points.
If you have rolled a spare on your first frame, and you’re lucky enough to roll a second strike on our second frame, you mark an X on frame two and wait for your third frame. The points accumulate for each frame until you roll a score in a frame. Each strike is worth 10 points plus the points in the next frame. For example, if frames 1 and 2 are strikes and the third frame a 3 and 3 are rolled then the first frame is 10 + 10 + 6 for a score of 26. The second frame is 10 + 6 for a score of 16. The third frame has a score of 6. The running score for this player would be 48.
Similarly, if you have rolled more than one spare the points also accumulate. This time only the points from the first dice rolled in the non-spare frame are used to score the first two frames. For example if frame one and two have spares and the third frame is marked as 3, 1 then only the 3 is used to score the first two frames. Frame one would be 10 + 10 + 3 for a score of 23 points. Frame two would be 10 + 3 for a score of 13 points. The third frame would be 4 points. The running score for this player would be 40 points.
When you roll a strike and then a spare, only the first roll of the third frame would be used to score.
When you roll a spare and then a strike, only the first dice of the third frame would be used to score the first frame where you got a spare. Both dice in the third frame would be used to score the second frame.
If you roll two 6s in your first roll, then you have sent both balls into the gutter and will score nothing for that frame.
What Happens in The 10th Frame?
Bowling Dice is played in 10 frames. The 10th frame is special if you roll either a spare or a strike.
If you roll a strike, then you would roll the dice once or two more times (depending on your roll and choice). The score would be 10 + both dice.
If you roll a spare, you roll again and take just one dice’s number to add to the 10 points for the spare.
If you roll three strikes in the 10th frame, you would get 30 points.
How Do I Win Bowling Dice?
The player with the highest score after 10 frames is the winner.
What Bowling Dice game Variations are There?
There is a commercial version of Bowling Dice that uses a set of 10 special dice. It is out of print right now.
There is another version of Bowling Dice that uses two standard dice. This game has you rolling both dice for each ball you throw and adding them together. In this game, if you roll a six both dice count for zero points. Otherwise, this game is played much the same way.
Strike of Fun
If you love bowling, then Bowling Dice is the game for you. It takes a little longer to play than some dice games so it makes for a nice game night. It is a little tricky to get the hang of the scoring but once you get it there are hours of fun. Get the printable rules here.
Remember to get your free score sheet in the Fun Library. Or you can get our Bowling Dice Game Book here (Canadians here) for hours of fun.
If you’re looking for more sport dice games check out our dice games:
Baseball Dice
Hockey Dice (an original Game)
Winter sports
Tennis
Tug of War.
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