Pig

Players and equipment

Any number of players and one die. The smallest press-your-luck game there is — the whole rulebook fits in a sentence, and the whole tragedy in a single pip, which is the one dot on the face of a die that shows a one. Two to six players is the comfortable range. Children can play from about five, as soon as they can add a die to a running total.

The deal

No deal. On your turn, roll the die. Whoever rolls the highest single die goes first, and the turn passes to the left.

Play

Keep rolling as long as you dare, adding each roll to your turn total. Stop whenever you like — hold — and the turn total is banked onto your score for good.

Roll a 1 and the turn ends instantly: the turn total vanishes, banked points stay safe, and the die passes on.

That is the whole game. Every roll is the same decision, made again with more at stake: take what the turn has made so far, or roll once more for an average of four points and a one-in-six chance of losing the lot.

Scoring

Two through six

Face value

Added to the turn total

One

0

The pig — turn over, turn total gone

Hold

Safe forever

Bank the turn total

A common two-dice variant raises the stakes: a single 1 wipes the turn, double 1s wipe your whole banked score.

The score sheet holds one number per player, the banked total, and the turn total lives out loud until it is banked or lost. On SquareScores the dice tray rolls the die, each turn is a row on the score table, a bust is a row of nought, and the host sets the target when the game is launched.

A worked game

Alice, Ben and Cara are playing to a hundred, and it is the first round.

Alice

Banks 13

Rolls 4, 6, 3 for a turn total of 13, and holds

Ben

Banks 0

Rolls 5, 2, 6, 4 for 17, rolls once more and sees a 1

Cara

Banks 17

Rolls 6, 6, 5 for 17, and holds

Alice again

Still 13

Rolls 2, then 3, then a 1

Follow Ben's turn. After four rolls he has seventeen on the table, which is a good turn, and he rolls once more for the eighteenth point and more. The die shows a one, the seventeen is gone, and his sheet says nought, exactly as it did before he picked up the die. Cara reaches the same seventeen and stops, and seventeen is what she has. Alice's second turn shows the other side of it: two rolls for five points, then a one, and the five vanish while her thirteen sit untouched. After a round and a bit the sheet reads Alice 13, Ben 0, Cara 17, and the die passes to Ben.

Ending

First player to bank 100 wins. Everyone downstream of a long greedy run gets one last turn to catch up, where the table plays it that way.

The chances, in plain words

Each roll of the die is a one about one time in six, whatever came before. That is the only number in the game, and everything else follows from it. Two rolls without a one come off about seven times in ten. Three rolls come off a little better than half the time. Four rolls come off a little worse than half the time, and five rolls only about two times in five.

Why twenty is the place to stop

When you roll and the die is not a one, you add four points on average, because the faces two to six average four. When the die is a one you lose the whole turn total. So the roll is worth taking while four points gained five times out of six outweighs the turn total lost once in six, and the two balance when the turn total is twenty. Below twenty, another roll gains more than it risks on average; above twenty, it risks more than it gains. Hold at twenty, or the first roll past it, and you are playing the sensible game.

The endgame

Twenty is the rule for the middle of the game, and the end changes it. If your banked score plus your turn total reaches a hundred, hold, because there is nothing left to roll for. If another player is on ninety and will almost certainly finish on their next turn, a hold at twenty that leaves you on sixty does you no good at all: your only chance is this turn, so keep rolling until you win or bust. The right question late in the game is not how much you gain on average but whether this turn can win it, and when only a long run can win, take the long run.

Ahead and behind

A player well ahead should hold early, because a bust costs the leader more than a small bank gains. A player well behind should hold late, because small banks will not close the gap before somebody reaches a hundred. Most of the game, though, is neither: everyone is within a turn or two of everyone else, and twenty is the answer.

Playing it with children

Pig is arithmetic disguised as a gamble, and the running total is the lesson: every roll is an addition and every hold is a decision about a number. Let a child call their own hold and take their own busts, and count out loud; a child who learns that a one comes about once in six rolls has learned something the game is a good excuse for.

Two-dice Pig

Roll two dice and add them both to the turn total. A single one on either die ends the turn and loses the turn total; a double one loses the turn total and the whole banked score with it. Each roll adds about eight rather than four and busts nearly a third of the time, so turns are short and the score sheet swings.

Big Pig

Two-dice Pig with two changes: a double one scores twenty-five instead of wiping you out, and any other double scores twice its face value, so a pair of fours is sixteen. A single one still ends the turn and loses the turn total. The bonus for doubles makes a long run worth more and the game a little kinder.

Hog

One roll a turn, with as many dice as you like. Choose a number of dice, roll them all together, and if any one of them shows a one the turn scores nothing; otherwise the turn scores the sum of them all. The whole decision is how many dice to pick up before the roll, and the answer is fewer than most people think.

A different target

A hundred is the standard finish line, and a game to a hundred takes ten or fifteen minutes with three or four players. Play to fifty for a quick game or to two hundred for a long one, and the strategy is the same; only the endgame arrives sooner or later. Agree the target before the first roll.

A last turn for everyone

When one player banks a hundred, every player after them in the order gets one more turn to overtake, and the highest score after those turns wins. It makes the last turns a matter of rolling until you have passed the leader or bust.

Pass the Pigs

A different game, not a variant, played with two small rubber pigs instead of dice. The pigs are thrown and score by how they land — on their side, on their back, on their feet, on their snout — and the press-your-luck shape is the same, with a pig-out ending the turn. It has its own scoring and its own equipment, and its rules are not the ones on this page.

How do you play Pig?

Take turns rolling one die. Each roll is added to your turn total, and you may stop whenever you like and bank that total onto your score. If you roll a one, your turn ends and the turn total is lost, though anything already banked is safe. The first player to bank a hundred points wins.

What happens when you roll a 1 in Pig?

Your turn ends at once and everything you had made that turn is lost. Your banked score from earlier turns is not touched. The die passes to the next player. In the two-dice version a single one has the same effect, and a double one also wipes out your banked score.

When should you stop rolling in Pig?

At twenty, as a rule. Each roll that is not a one adds four points on average, and one roll in six is a one that loses the whole turn total; the two balance when the turn total is twenty, so below it another roll is worth taking and above it the risk outweighs the gain. Near the end of the game the rule changes: hold as soon as you reach a hundred, and if somebody else is about to win, keep rolling for as long as it takes.

How many people can play Pig?

Any number, with one die passed round the table. Two to six is the comfortable range, because everyone's turn comes round quickly. With a big group play in two tables, or play Hog, where a turn is a single roll.

What are the chances of rolling a 1?

One in six on every roll, regardless of what came before. A run of two rolls without a one comes off about seven times in ten, three rolls a little better than half the time, four rolls a little less than half, and five rolls about two times in five. The die has no memory.

Can you play Pig with two dice?

Yes, and it is a common version. Roll both dice and add them to your turn total. If either die shows a one, the turn ends and the turn total is lost; if both show a one, your banked score is lost as well. Turns are shorter and more dramatic, and the game is faster.

Is Pig the same as Pass the Pigs?

No. Pass the Pigs is a boxed game played with two small pig-shaped pieces that score by the way they land, and it has its own rules and scoring. The two share the idea of rolling until you choose to stop or lose the turn, but Pig is played with an ordinary die and needs nothing else.

How long does a game of Pig take?

About ten to fifteen minutes to a hundred with three or four players. A two-player game is quicker and a table of six is slower, mostly because of the waiting. Play to fifty for a five-minute game.