Golf
(The gamble-for-birdies game)Â
Players: 2 - 4
Time: ~ 30 minutes
Complexity: 5/10
Setup
This game requires: all 210 numbered cubes and a pen and paper to note the scores.
Discard the 6 wildcubes either before the game, or as they are dealt throughout the game, whichever is easier.
Each player selects one of the 6 playing colours to use during this game.
Deal 10 cubes to each player, leaving the rest in the bag.
Each player should turn their cubes so that their playing colour is on the top and place them in a line in front of them.
Aim of the game
As in a round of golf, the winner is the player who takes the fewest shots over the course of the game.
A standard game consists of 9 'holes'.
How to play
Take a cube from the bag which has a 1 on, and place this cube with the 1 facing up.
Roll a new cube from the bag and place this to the right of the 1. This two digit number is the length of hole 1.
For example, if you roll an 8, hole number 1 has length 18.
The aim of each hole is to reach this number exactly, by summing together as few cubes as possible.
For each shot, you play one of your 10 cubes in front of you.
You can either move forward a cube and use the face up side, playing your colour.
Or you can roll the cube, leaving it to chance which of the 6 numbers the cube lands on.
As an example, if hole 1 has length 18 and you have two cubes where your face up playing colour is 9, you can complete this hole by playing those two cubes and placing them face up in front of your line. A great result!
However, if you only have one 9 in your colour, you could choose to play it safe and use three of your face up cubes that sum to 18, for a score of 3.
Or, you could take a chance, and roll one of your other cubes hoping it lands on a 9. Playing this, with your single 9, would give you a score of 2.
If the sum of your cubes goes above the length of the hole, your next cube will reduce the distance.
For example, if you are aiming for a length of 18, but your cubes sum to 23, you would need a 5 to finish the hole.
However, if you roll a cube and get an 8, you would go back to 15 and therefore need a 3 to finish the hole next shot.
Once you have used a cube, it can not be used again for the rest of the game.
Only when you have used all 10 of your cubes do you get 10 new cubes from the bag.
For hole 1, randomly decide who goes first. They play the hole and then play passes to the next player.
For holes 2 to 9, the best player from the previous hole goes first, and then the second best and so on. (As in regular golf!)
Once each player has completed hole number 1, roll a new cube from the bag and combine with the 1 to give the length of hole number 2.
Play 9 holes in the same manner, replacing your 10 cubes anytime you run out of cubes, whoever ends with the lowest score wins.
Possible alternative rules
To change the length of the game, you can increase or decrease the number of holes you play. Why not try a full round of 18?
You could introduce par 4 and par 5 holes by making some of the hole lengths start with a 2 instead of a 1.
Finished one game? Let the winner make a new rule and play again!
And, as always, add any other rules you like to have more fun!