Zanzibar

A good game for any number of players, played with three dice and counters or chips.

Play:

Each player starts the game with 20 chips or, in the case of a two player game, 15 chips.  A number of rounds are played as described below. 

The first player has up to three rolls of the dice to get the highest score possible.  He may stop after the first or second throw.  Subsequent players, in turn,  then try to get a higher score using no more throws than that used by the first.

The scoring system is a little complicated but is easy enough to learn.  The highest ranking combinations are listed in descending order below.

4, 5, 6  "Zanzibar"
1, 1, 1
2, 2, 2
3, 3, 3
4, 4, 4
5, 5, 5
6, 6, 6
1, 2 ,3

All other combinations rank as a  points total of the three dice added together which is described below.

1 = 100 points
6 = 60 points
2 = 2 points
3 = 3 points
4 = 4 points
5 = 5 points

So, for example, if you were to throw the following combinations you would score the number of points stated.

1, 6, 5  = 165 points
2, 2, 6  =  64 points
1, 1, 5 =  205 points
4, 6, 6 = 124 points
2, 4, 5 = 11 points
3, 3, 2 = 8 points

The player with the lowest score at the end of a round receives a number of chips from each of the other players.  The number of chips depends on the winning hand and are listed below.

Losers receive...
1 chip if the highest throw is a points total.
2 chips if the highest throw is 1, 2, 3.
3 chips if the highest throw is three-of-a-kind.
4 chips if the highest throw is 4, 5, 6. (Zanzibar)
.
A number of rounds are played, like the first, and the winner is the player to lose all his chips first.  The winner of the previous round rolls first in the next.

Variations:

You can continue play by having the winner of a round take back a number of chips from other players.  The winner of a game is then the player who has all or the original player total of chips.