How to Play the Higher or Lower Dice Game

We love simple dice games here at Family Game Shelf and the Higher or Lower Dice Game is another great game for a quick game time.

Why do we love these dice games so much? Frist they’re fast—great for filler time when you’re waiting or in between bigger games on game night. You can also play them just about anywhere. And they are easy to learn and just about anyone can play. Tug of War, Come on Six, and Round the Clock are just a few that fit this category.

Higher or Lower is fast, fun and a great time filler. In this post we’ll cover how to play, the rules and some game variations. Gets get started.

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What You Need for Higher or Lower Dice Game

To start, we’ll go over a two player game. For more players, see the variations at the bottom of the post.

You will need six dice per player. (For variations with less dice, see below.)

How to Play Two Player Higher or Lower Dice

To start, you need to decide who will go first. Player one will then roll one of her dice.

Next, player two will call out if he thinks his dice roll will be higher or lower than her roll. He now rolls one of his dice.

If he was correct in his call, he takes her dice and puts it in his pile. On the other hand, if he was wrong in his call, she takes his dice and adds it to her pile.

Now, the second player rolls one of his dice. It is now her turn to call out if she think her dice roll will be higher or lower than his roll. She then rolls one of her dice.

Again, if she is correct in her call, she takes his dice. If she is wrong, he takes her dice.

Winning Higher or Lower

The player who ends up with all the dice is the winner.

Higher or Lower Dice Game Variations

Points

This variation of Higher or Lower can be played with as many players as you’d like. You will need two dice and a pen and paper to keep score.

To start, you need to figure out who will roll first. This player then rolls both dice and adds them together. She now has to call out if she thinks her next roll will be higher or lower. She then rolls again. If she is correct she gets one point. On the other hand, if she guesses wrong, she loses a point. If she rolls the same amount, then she gets a point.

Now the player to her left calls out is he thinks that his roll will be higher or lower than her last roll. He will then roll the dice, add them together and either gain a point or lose a point.

This continues until one player gets 15 points and wins the game.

Double or Nothing

This game is played the same as the Points variation with one change. On your turn you can call double or nothing before you guess higher or lower. If you guess correctly, you gain two points. But if you guess wrong, you lose all of the points you have earned so far.

Chips In

For this game, player will need a set amount of poker chips. You will also need two dice. To start, everyone puts a chip or two into the middle. When you guess the roll correctly, you get a chip from the middle. On the other hand, if you choose wrong, then you have to put a chip in the middle. When you are out of chips, then you are out of the game. The winner is the last player with chips. Alternately, you could play until a player reach a certain amount of chips—say double what you started with.

Survivor

In this variation of the game, players start with a set amount of chips or tokens. When a player guesses wrong, she will put a chip into the center of the table. When a player is out of chips, then he is out of the game. The winner is the last player with chips.

Fun All Around

No matter which rules of Higher or Lower you play with, this can be a fast moving game or one that takes the whole night. Players of any age can play and have fun, making this a great dice game for the whole family.

Looking for even more fun with dice? Check out Snowball (fun all year long), Shadow Dice and Mafia dice. Visit our Family Game Shelf shop for more dice games like our mini golf dice game, Whacky Putt.

Need more dice, and who doesn’t? You can shop here. Canadian’s can shop dice here.

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