Centennial Dice Game
Grade Levels: 2 - 5
Posted: August 15, 2020 | Updated: August 17, 2020
Created by: Schoolhouse by the Sea
Printable Game Board and Instructions (PDF)
Goal
Be the first to complete a round trip by traveling from space 1 to 12 then back to space 1 again!
Materials
- 3 dice (or one that is rolled 3 times)
- Centennial board (print this one out or create your own!)
- The rules below
- One game token per player (you can use different coins, paper clips, or use pieces from another game you own)
How to Play
- On your turn, roll three dice at the same time (or roll one die three times in a row, recording each roll’s result)
- On your turn, you may move forward ONLY if:
At least one of your rolls resulted in a one (1)
AND
The other dice make a sequence (or can be added up to make a sequence).
- If you have a sequence (series of consecutive numbers from the dices’ face or combined values) then move forward one space for each step of the sequence.
- There are no re-rolls. Your turn is over when you have moved as much as you can from your sequence. Please note that you might not get to move at all and this is okay! The game is over once someone has completed a round trip from space 1 to space 12 then back again to 1!
Have some questions? This game sounds complex, but is fun and easy to play once you’ve had some practice. The examples below should make the game’s rules much clearer.
Examples
If you roll a 1, 2, and 6, then the 1 and 2 make a sequence! They are in numerical order (the order you count in). This lets you move forward one space. But here’s where you can get creative! You can add 1+2 to make 3, so your sequence then becomes 1, 2, 3. The 6 can’t be included in the sequence, so the sequence length total is three numbers! Move forward one less than the sequence length, so with a sequence of 1, 2, 3 (a sequence three numbers long), you would move forward two spaces.
If you roll a 1, 2, and 3 then we would count the sequence the following way. 1, 2, 3 is in numerical order (counting order), so the sequence length based on the dice’s face value would be 3 (which would result in moving forward two spaces). But here’s where it gets creative! You can add 1+3 together to make 4, so your sequence then becomes 1,2,3,4. However, you can also add 2+3 together to make 5, so that your sequence then becomes 1,2,3,4,5. Now, with a sequence length of 5, you can move forward four spaces.
If you roll a 1, 2, and 4, then you can get a sequence that is even longer than the previous examples! 1 and 2 are already in sequential order, as we’ve seen before. Then we can add 1+2 to make 3; we have a 4 from the dice rolled, so our sequence grows to 1,2,3,4. Now let’s see how far we can go! 1+4 gives us 5 then 2+4 makes 6, and then if we add the face values of all the dice we rolled (1+2+4) we get 7. Now with our sequence of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, which is a sequence length of 7, you can move forward six spaces.
Here’s the tricky thing: if you roll a 4, 5, and a 6, even though these numbers are in sequential order (counting order), none of the dice we rolled have a face value of 1. That means your turn is over and you do not move forward at all (remember that, according to rule #2, you MUST roll a 1 to be able to move).
Check your understanding
How many spaces can you move if you roll a 1, 1, and 3?
1, (1+1=2), 3, (1+3=4), (1+1+3=5) = 1,2,3,4,5 = you can move forward four spaces!
How many spaces can you move forward if you roll a 2, 3, and 4?
You can’t move forward at all, because you didn’t roll a 1 move the dice to the next player!
How many spaces can you move forward if you roll a 1, 1, and a 6?
1, (1+1=2), so you can move forward two spaces!
You’re now ready to play!
Variations
Variation 1
Once all the players are equally good at identifying all parts of their sequences through addition, you can play a more advanced version. Here is how you’d play: at the start of your turn, before rolling the dice, if you can show the missed number(s) from the last player’s sequence, you can move forward the extra spaces they had missed. I do not recommend this for players of different skill levels or for young players. For older players who can play with good sportsmanship, this can be a fun twist to the game.
Variation 2
If your dice roll allows you to make a sequence and move your game piece across the board, then you get ONE additional roll of the dice before your turn is completed.