The Winter Olympics are taking place this February in Beijing China. If you’re like the rest of us, you won’t be going to the games but you can catch the Olympic fever with these easy, fun family Olympic Table Top Games!
The Olympic Table Top Games are a collection of games that you can play at your kitchen table with your family. They all have a winter sports theme so you can play your own Winter Olympics games right at home. So put up the world flags, grab the torch and get ready for an epic game night!
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Olympic Table Top Game: Going to Beijing
With a whoosh of fire, the Olympic flame comes to life in Olympia, Greece a few months before the Olympics. It will then set off on its journey relay style to the host city. This year the host is Beijing, China. This means that the flame will travel 7,797 KM to get to the cauldron.
Players will race to be the first to get to Beijing. You will need a score sheet and three dice. There are two ways to play this game.
First, a player rolls all three dice. Next, she adds the dice together and then subtracts the amount from 7,797. Then the next player takes his turn and does the same. On a player’s second turn, the rolled sum is taken away from the remaining amount that she has to travel. The winner is the first player to get to zero KMs.
Second, a player rolls all three dice. Next, he puts them in order from highest to lowest and then subtracts that number from the distance left to travel (7,797 km on the first turn.) For example is a 2, 5, and 3 were rolled, the player would put them in order to make 532km. Again, the player first to zero kms left is the winner.
Other alternatives would be to use two dice and multiply them together. And another is to add the numbers together to track the kms traveled; the winner would be the first to reach 7,797.
Olympic Game: The Olympic Rings
The Olympic rings will be everywhere in Beijing. In this Olympic table top game, players will see how many rings they can get in this game.
You will need a score sheet and five dice.
In this game the colour blue is represented by the number 1. Black is 2; Red is 3, Yellow is 4 and green is 5.
To play Olympic Rings game, players will roll all five dice. Next, they will line up the dice in runs starting with blue or 1. Next, a player can decide to re-roll any dice to try to get more points. For each colour or dice in line counts as 5 points. A full Olympic ring set is worth 30points.
The player who reaches 100 points first is the winner.
Olympic Board Game: Ski Run
In this board game, players are in a ski race across the mountain. You can choose the easier route, the medium route or the tricky black route. Players use cards at the right time to get ahead of the game. There are jumps, wipe outs, collisions and even a yeti in this dynamic game. Get your copy of Ski Run here. Canadians can get theirs here.
Olympic Dice Game: Bobsled
The next event is the Bobsled run. For this game, you will need 6 dice and a score sheet.
To play the dice game Bobsled, you first need to get all of your team in the sled. To do this, roll the dice and get four dice in a row.
Next, you can reroll any dice to get more team members in the sled (if you were not able to get four in on the first roll).
Once you have your team in the sled, the other dice are used as your time. The time dice are put together to make a number instead of added together. For example, if the remaining two dice are a 3 and a 5 then the time is 35seconds. Similarly, if they are 6 and 2 then the time is 26 seconds.
A player can only roll the dice two times per turn. If you fail to get your team into the sled, you score zero for the round.
The player who has the lowest combined time after three rounds is the winner.
Olympic Table Top Game: Curling
We have two ways to play curling.
First, you can play Dice Curling. You will need some dice to play. The object is to roll the closest number to the target number without going over. But be careful–other players could smash into sending you out of the box. Learn how to play Dice Curling here.
The second way you can play this traditional ice game on your table is by getting a curling set. There are many commercial Curling games where players slide the rocks across the “ice” surface to score points. These games give a miniature feel to the game and are quite fun. You can shop for curling sets here. Canadians can shop here.
Olympic Dice Game: Ski Jump
For this Olympic dice game you will need three dice and a score sheet.
A player has three rolls to try and get the best ski jump she can. First, you need to roll a 1, this is our take off. If you don’t get a 1 on any of the three rolls your score is zero for the round.
Next, the other two dice represent the difficultly of the jump and the landing. To successfully land a jump you need to roll an even number—landing on two feet. The other dice is how difficult the jump is and is the score.
A player can choose any dice to reroll up to three rolls.
For example: roll: 1, 5, 2 – the roll has a takeoff (1), a landing (2) and a score of 5.
Turn 2: roll 1: 2, 4, 5 – there is no take off so all dice are rerolled.
Roll 2: 1, 2, 1 – there is a takeoff and a landing but the score is only 1 so the 1 is rerolled.
Roll 3: 4 – the score for the round is 4.
The player who has the best score after three rounds is the winner.
Olympic Table Top Game: Luge
The luge is an interesting winter sport. You strap yourself onto a small sled and then go barreling down the track at break-neck speeds. This version of the luge you are much safer however, there is an element of risk because you compete with your eyes closed.
First, you need to printout the game sheet from our free fun library here (see the black box below to see how you can get your pass). Next, every player needs a marker or crayon in a different colour.
The first player places his marker at the starting spot. Next, he will close his eyes and try to draw his path to the finish line. When he lifts his marker and opens his eyes, he sees where he stopped. Next, he puts his marker back on the spot he stopped at, closes his eyes and tries again. If his marker has gone out of the track area, he restarts at the point where the line goes out of bonds.
When he reaches the finfish line, he counts how many turns it took him. That is his score.
The next player with a different colour tries her luck at the sport in the same manner.
The player with the lowest score wins. If there is a tie, the player with the fewest out of bounds lines is the winner.
Another way to play is to print a game sheet for each player. Players can switch colours to try a second run if they’d like.
Olympic Dice Game: Hockey
The last Olympic table top game is hockey. The winter game that comes to mind first for many is hockey. In this easy dice game, teams play against each other. You need only two dice. Watch out for the penalties and the fights! Read how to play Hockey Dice here. There’s a free score and cheat sheet too in our Fun Library.
Closing Ceremonies
The games have been played. The competitors have cheered in triumphed or withered in defeat. All that’s left is the medal ceremony. Hand out the medals in great style for each game (you can get medals here).Â
Finish off the night with a closing speech about the fun you’ve had, the close calls and come-from-behind victories. Most of all know that you have made some lasting memories that will come to mind every time there are Olympic games in the world.
You can shop all things Olympic Games here, including lots of books on the history of the games. Canadians can shop all things Olympic here.
For more winter fun check out our Winter Carnival Dice games, our Winter Minute to Win it Games and visit our Family Game Shelf Shop’s winter section for the hottest winter games!
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