How to play the Hidden Kings Dice Game

Today’s dice game Hidden Kings is inspired by the 1999 game Bunker Poker. It’s a game of strategy and luck that’s fit for a King.

We love playing the Bunker Poker game but sadly it is out of print. We created Hidden Kings to bring all the best of the game to you using a deck of cards and some dice.

Let’s get to the rules, the game play and how to win Hidden Kings!

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What You Need

You will need a deck of cards, 6 dice per player and a set of two dice for rolling. It makes it easier if the dice are different colours, especially the rolling dice. If you need some more dice you can shop dice here; Canadians here. You can never go wrong with more dice!

Setting Up Hidden Kings

First, separate the cards into suits. Each player will get a suit. To start, each player will lay down the ace to 6 of their suit face up in front of them. Next, they will separate the king to 8. They will set aside the rest of the cards as they won’t be needed. Next, they choose where to hide their king and then place it face down on one of the face up cards, so that the face up number can be seen. Next, they place the cards queen to 8 on the rest of the face up cards. Last, they place one dice on each pile with the number 6 as the top number.

Playing Hidden Kings

First, decide on who will go first. We like a high dice roll.

Now on your first turn, you will roll both rolling dice. You will now choose a player to take points from depending on the numbers you rolled. One of the dice will tell you which dice to take the points from and the other will tell you how many points to take. For example if you roll a 4 and 5 you can either take 4 points away from someone’s 5 dice or 5 points away from their 4 dice.

On your second turn you have more choices. You can now chose either to take points away from someone or you can add them to your own dice.

Let’s look at an example:

You roll a 3 and 4 you can now…
A – take 3 points away from someone’s 4 dice
B – take 4 points away from someone’s 3 dice
C – add 3 points to your 4 dice or
D – add 4 points to your 3 dice

You can only add points to your dice if they are sitting at below 6 points.

There is one more choice you have. When someone else rolls the dice you can choose to swap two of your dice depending on the numbers rolled. For example if a 1 and 4 were rolled you can now swap the 1 dice with the 4 dice. You need to do the swap before the player makes his move.

When a dice is out of points, it is removed from the game. If you roll a 6 you can take someone dice out of the game (of the number rolled). For example if a 5 and 6 are rolled then you can remove the player’s 5 dice. On the other hand if your 2 dice has four points and a 2 and 5 are rolled then your 2 dice can be taken out.

When a face up card no longer has a dice on its pile, you can no longer add points or swap. If another player chooses to take points away from that number, then you flip over the faced own card. If that card is your king, you are out of the game. On the other hand, if it’s any other card, it is removed from the game and you continue.

If a player’s king is revealed, they are out of the game.

Winning Hidden Kings

The last player with a hidden king is the winner.

Hidden Fun

The dice game Hidden Kings is a fast, light strategy game of luck and skill. Players of all ages will love this game that plays in just the right amount of time.

For more fun with dice visit our Bank dice game, Shut the Box, and Volcano dice games. Be sure to visit our Family Game Shelf shop where you’ll find the printable rules for this game as well as seasonal and original games like our Whacky Putt mini golf dice game.

If you’re looking for the printable version of Hidden Kings’ rules, click here.