Dog Dice Board Game: Rules for How to Play

Objective

The objective of Dog Dice is to be the first player to cover four spaces in a row and yell out “hot dog.”

Setup

Each player chooses a board and places it in front of them.
Place all of the bones in the middle of the table where everyone can reach them.
The youngest player starts the game.

How to Play Dog Dice

You will begin each of your turns rolling both of the dice. Look at the two sides that you rolled and call it out to the other players.

Rolling the dice — The current player rolled McDuff on the dog die and the dish on the action die. All of the players will look for spots on their board that feature McDuff and a dish.

All of the players will search on their boards to see if they have a square that matches the two things rolled on the dice. Everyone that has a match places a bone on it.

Cover a spot in Dog Dice — This player had a space that has McDuff and a dish on it. They will place one of the bones on the space.

It is possible to have two squares that match what was rolled. In this case you get to place a bone on both matching squares.

You should quickly search your board for matches and place a bone on any match. Should you fail to place a bone on a matching space before the next player takes their turn, you cannot later put a bone on the space unless the combination is rolled again.

After you roll the dice and the players place a bone on any matching spaces, you will pass the dice to the player on your left.

Unique Dice Sides

There are two unique sides on the action die.

If the current player rolls the “trouble” side of the action die, all of the players will look to see if they have a picture showing the dog from the dog die causing trouble. If you have a matching square, you will place a bone on the square.

Rolling trouble on the dice — This player has rolled trouble on the action die and Gigi on the dog die. All of the players will look on their board for spaces that feature Gigi (the poodle) causing trouble. This player has a picture of Gigi breaking a vase. They will place a bone on the space.

The other unique side of the action die is the “dog gone!” side. When this side is rolled, only the player who rolled the dice takes the action. The rest of the players take no action this turn. The current player looks for a square on their board that they covered with a bone that features the dog rolled on the dog die. You will return the bone from the space to the center pile. If you have multiple spaces covered that feature the dog, you choose which square to remove the bone from. Should you have no covered spaces that feature the dog, you avoid the punishment and don’t have to remove any bones from your board.

Rolling dog gone on the die — The current player rolled dog done and Gizmo on the dice. They have covered two spaces with a bone that feature Gizmo (the two covered spaces in the third column). They will choose one of the two spaces and remove the bone from it. The rest of the players do not have to remove a bone.

Winning Dog Dice

The players will keep taking turns until one of the players have a bingo. You can get a bingo by covering four spaces in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. You can also get a bingo by covering the four corner spaces. When you have completed a bingo, you should shout “hot dog.” The first player to shout “hot dog” while having a bingo wins Dog Dice.

Dog Dice FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

2 Dice
4 Bingo Boards
48 Bones
Instructions

Year: 1997 | Publisher: Gamewright | Designer: Monty Stambler, Ann Stambler | Artist: Lori Osiecki

Genres: Children’s, Dice

Ages: 5+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 10-20 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: High

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.