Your Take: Fun Snowed-In Activities
I’m looking out our front door at an amazing amount of snow piling up. It started yesterday and has snowed consistently through the night. They are calling for 20-30″ total. Not bad for Maryland.
I love snow days. The best part is that they completely cancel just about all plans giving me a day without obligation. And, in my opinion, the best way to spend those free days is playing games with friends. That’s exactly what we did last night. We played a few different games but the best game was definitely Liar’s Dice!!
Liar’s Dice
Liar’s Dice is a game of probability and deception! You can play with 2+ people (the more, the better) and there isn’t much to setup. Pass out 5 dice and a cup to each player. You may recognize this game from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Here’s how to play:
Liar’s Dice Gameplay
- Put your dice in the cup and shake them up. Caste your dice in front of you so that no one else can see them.
- Take a peek at your dice and the first player begins the bidding. Each bid is for the total amount of a certain number present. For example, you can bid “four 5s,” meaning you think that there are at least four dice on the table with a value of 5. The challenge is that your are bidding on everybody’s dice, not just your own.
- The next player (on the left) has a choice.
- Raise
A raise is done by upping the quantity or value. For example, to raise “four 5s”, I’d could call “four 6s” or “five 1s, 2s, 3s, etc.” or even higher.- Call liar
If you don’t think the bid is accurate, call them a liar. Everybody reveals their dice and you find out the the truth.- Keep going around in a circle, raising the bid, until someone calls liar. After the dice are revealed, the person who was wrong (bidder or caller) loses a die.
- This continues until only one person remains.
Your Take: Favorite Snow Day Activity
So what’s your favorite way to make through a snow day? Do you watch movies? play games? go sledding? build a fire? Do you have any snow-day traditions?
Comments & Conversation on this Article...
2 Responses to Your Take: Fun Snowed-In Activities
Wait! Got a question on your own project?
Ask your question in our Home Improvement Help Forums.
Otherwise, leave a note here!
February 7th, 2010 2:11 pm
Liar’s Dice is a blast. Unfortunately I play with a bunch of mathematicians and finance guys. So the rounds quickly deteriorate into calculations of the maximum number of 6s (including skulls) and then educated bluffs based on the best possible outcome. We’d rarely make it past two or three people without hearing the “L” word.
Probably MUCH more fun with kids involved. Cut throat number crunchers take it waaaay too seriously.
-Jon
February 7th, 2010 5:43 pm
@Jon, Liar’s Dice is a ton of fun. Fred is quick with the odds but a good bluff can go a long way. I also like to bet on numbers that I don’t always have to throw in a little misdirection.