Greed

👥 2–8 players 📍 Indoor📍 Anywhere ⚡ Calm 🧩 Simple ⏱ 30-60 minutes 🎂 Ages 4+

Quick Pitch

Greed is a push-your-luck dice game where you roll six dice, set aside anything that scores, then decide whether to bank your points or roll the remaining dice and risk losing everything you've built this turn.

Hook

Roll six dice, pull out any 1s (worth 100 each), 5s (worth 50 each), and three-of-a-kinds (worth their own scoring bonuses), then make the decision: stop and add your points to the scoreboard, or roll again with the dice that haven't scored yet. The more dice you set aside, the fewer you're rolling — which means fewer chances to score, but also fewer chances for a bust roll with nothing. If all six dice happen to score, you get to roll all six again and keep going. The game has a target of 10,000 points, and the greed part of the name is honest.

Equipment Needed

  • 6 standard six-sided dice
  • Paper scorecard (one per player)
  • Pencil or pen

Setup

  1. Each player tracks their own score
  2. Set a target score (typically 10,000 points)
  3. Determine play order
  4. First player rolls first

Rules

Objective

Be the first player to reach the target score by accumulating points from scoring dice combinations.

Gameplay

Turn Structure:

  1. Roll all six dice
  2. Set aside any dice that score points (1s and 5s, or three of a kind)
  3. Decide: Take your current turn score OR roll remaining dice
  4. If rolling: Continue with remaining dice
  5. If you bust (no scoring dice): Lose all points from this turn
  6. If you stop: Add your turn points to your overall score

Scoring

Scoring Dice:

  • 1: 100 points per die
  • 5: 50 points per die
  • Three 1s: 1,000 points
  • Three 2s: 200 points
  • Three 3s: 300 points
  • Three 4s: 400 points
  • Three 5s: 500 points
  • Three 6s: 600 points
  • Four of a kind: 1,000 points
  • Five of a kind: 2,000 points
  • Six of a kind: 3,000 points
  • Straight (1-2-3-4-5-6): 1,500 points
  • Three pairs: 1,500 points

Bust: Rolling with no scoring combinations loses your turn total

Hot Dice

If all six dice score, you can reroll all six and continue (similar to "hot hand" in Farkle).

Expert Player

Tips

  1. Early aggression: Roll multiple times early to build points
  2. Three of a kind priority: Lock in three of a kinds early
  3. Straight and three pairs: These are rare and valuable
  4. Mid-game balance: With 300+ turn points, consider stopping
  5. Late-game caution: When near target, lock in moderate points (300-400)
  6. Risk curves: As turn total increases, risk increases
  7. 1s and 5s safety: You can almost always continue if you have 1s or 5s

Variations

  • Conservative scoring: Only count 1s and 5s; three of a kind doesn't score
  • Straight bonus: Straights worth 2,000 instead of 1,500
  • Different target: Play to 5,000 (quick) or 15,000 (long)
  • No three pairs: Remove three pairs from scoring options
  • Two dice minimum: Can only set aside two dice minimum before rolling
Learn More — History & Origins

History & Origins

Greed belongs to the same family as Farkle, Ten Thousand, and Zilch — American folk dice games that share the same core push-your-luck mechanic (roll six dice, set aside scorers, decide whether to continue) and differ mainly in their scoring tables and regional names. The specific name "Greed" appears in American game collections from the mid-20th century, and the game circulated widely through informal teaching in family and social settings. Because these games spread by word of mouth rather than publication, every family seems to have a slightly different version of the rules, and arguments about "how we always played it" are part of the tradition.

Cultural Context

Greed and its relatives occupy the same niche as Threes or Pig — simple dice games where the core decision (keep rolling or stop) is immediately understandable even to young children, but the statistical tension never really fades regardless of how often you've played. The scoring categories beyond single 1s and 5s (three-of-a-kind, straights, full houses) add enough complexity to make the first few rolls of each turn feel like a puzzle: how many scoring dice did you get, which should you keep, and what's actually on the table if you roll again? The "hot dice" rule — rerolling all six when all of them score — is particularly effective at turning what should be a safe stopping point into a temptation to keep going, which is the game's most reliably exciting moment.

See Also