Pass the Pigs Dice Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Objective of Pass the Pigs

The objective of Pass the Pigs is to score the most points by rolling the pig dice.

Setup

Place all of the components on the table where the players can reach them.
Take a scorepad sheet and write each player’s name/initials at the top of one of the columns.
Choose a player to be the “swineherd”. This player is in charge of keeping score throughout the game.
The players decide who will start the game. Play moves clockwise throughout the game.

Playing Pass the Pigs

You will begin your turn by tossing both of the pig dice at the same time.

What you do next depends on how the two pigs land. See the Pass the Pigs Scoring Combinations section below for more details.

As long as you didn’t roll a “Pig Out” or an “Oinker”, you will have a decision to make.

You can choose to stop rolling the dice and end your turn. In this case you will score points equal to the value of all of the rolls you have made this turn. The swineherd records your score on the score sheet.

Otherwise you can choose to be a “Pig-head” and roll the dice again. You can keep rolling the dice as many times as you want. You want to avoid rolling a “Pig Out” or an “Oinker”. If you roll either of these combinations, your turn ends and you lose all of the points you earned this turn.

Rolling the Dice in Pass the Pigs — The current player rolled a Mixed Combo with the dice. They rolled a Razorback with the left die and a Snouter with the right die. This player would score 15 points from their roll. They can either choose to keep the points, or roll the dice trying to score more points.

When your turn is over, you pass the pigs to the next player who takes their turn. The rules do not specify whether play moves clockwise or counterclockwise.

Pass the Pigs Scoring Combinations

Leaning Jowler

A Leaning Jowler happens when a pig lands where it jowl (side of face), ear and front foot are touching the table. The other pig lands on its side.

A Leaning Jowler is worth 15 points.

Double Leaning Jowler

To roll a Double Leaning Jowler both pigs need to land on their jowl, ear and front foot.

A Double Leaning Jowler is worth 60 points.

Mixed Combo

A mixed combo occurs when you roll one combination with one dice and another combination with the other dice.

You will add up the scores from each individual combination to get the score for a Mixed Combo.

Oinker

Whenever you roll the two dice and the two pigs touch, you rolled an Oinker.

When you roll an Oinker you lose all of the points you have earned so far in the game (this includes points from previous turns). Your turn ends so you will pass the pigs to the next player.

Pig Out

A Pig Out happens when both pigs land on different sides. To tell that the pigs are on different sides, the dot should be visible on one pig and not visible on the other.

When you roll a Pig Out, your turn ends immediately. You lose all of the points you have earned during your current turn.

Piggy Back

If you ever roll the two dice and one pig lands on the back of the other pig, you are eliminated from the game.

Razorback

Whenever a pig lands on its back (all four feet are in the air), you have rolled a Razorback. The other pig lands on its side.

A Razorback is worth 5 points.

Double Razorback

A Double Razorback is the same as a Razorback except that both dice land on their back.

A Double Razorback is worth 20 points.

Sider

You will roll a Sider whenever both pigs land on the same side. You can tell if the pigs are on the same side by seeing if the dot is face up or face down on both pig dice.

A Sider is worth 1 point.

Snouter

Whenever a pig lands on its snout and it’s two front feet, you have rolled a Snouter. The other pig dice landed on its side.

A Snouter is worth 10 points.

Double Snouter

A Double Snouter occurs when both dice land on their snout and their two front feet.

A Double Snouter is worth 40 points.

Trotter

A Trotter occurs whenever one of the pigs lands on all four of its feet. The other pig lands on its side.

A Trotter is worth 5 points.

Double Trotter

A Double Trotter is the same as a Trotter except that both pigs land on their feet.

A Double Trotter is worth 20 points.

Winning Pass the Pigs

The first player to score a total of 100 points wins Pass the Pigs.

Hog Calls in Pass the Pigs

Pass the Pigs has an advanced variant that the players could choose to use. Most of the rules stay the same as the main game.

When a player has scored 20 or more points on a turn, players can choose to Hog Call. Any player other than the current roller can choose to Hog Call. To make the Hog Call you must shout out “Sooee” before the dice are rolled. The first person to call out gets to be the Hog Caller for the roll.

Before the player rolls the dice, the Hog Caller predicts what combination they will roll. If you pick Mixed Combo, you need to pick the position of both dice. You cannot predict a Pig Out, Oinker, or Piggy Back. The player then rolls the dice.

If the Hog Caller correctly predicts the dice roll, they earn points equal to double the points that the roll normally earns. The roller also subtracts double the points from their total.

If the Hog Caller guesses incorrectly, they subtract points from their total equal to double the points the rolled combination normally scores. The roller ends up scoring twice the amount they normally would earn from the roll.

Hog Calling in Pass the Pigs — One of the players decided to Hog Call on this die roll. The player ended up rolling a Double Razorback. If the Hog Caller correctly predicted the roll, they would score 40 points and the roller would lose 40 points. If they guess incorrectly though, they would lose 40 points and the roller would earn 40 points.

Players can never reduce their score below zero with a Hog Call.

Whenever a Hog Call is made, the current roller keeps control over the pig dice. They can keep rolling the dice or stop after the roll like in the normal game.

Pass the Pigs FAQ

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

Pass the Pigs Components

2 Pig Dice
Score Pad
Carrying Case
Instructions

Year: 1977 | Publisher: David Moffat Enterprises, Milton Bradley, Winning Moves Games | Designer: David Moffat

Genres: Dice, Family, Press Your Luck

Ages: 7+ | Number of Players: 2+ | Length of Game: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: High

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Stephanie

Thursday 24th of July 2025

If someone makes a hog call and loses points in a turn, what happens if they keep rolling and gets a pig out? Do they get a net 0 or still have the negative points?

Eric Mortensen

The instructions don't specifically address your issue. The rules for the Hog Call are pretty sparse and they don't even appear in all versions of Pass the Pigs. Therefore this is my opinion of how I would handle the situation.

If the roller lost the points and then rolled a Pig Out, I would say they would score zero points. I would say this because in the Pig Out section it says that you lose all of the points from your turn. It doesn't specify positive or negative points, so I think it should apply to both.

This is just my opinion though. I could just as easily see having the person take the negative points as well. This is a valid interpretation because otherwise there is no reason for a roller that has negative points not to just keep rolling until they either get to positive points or they Pig Out since their score would then reset to zero. If you play this way, the rules do specifically say that you can never go below zero for your total points. Therefore if this negative score would put you below zero, your score is set to zero.

I am sorry I couldn't give you a definitive answer. Unfortunately the Pig Out rules are not in all versions of the game and when they are in, the instructions don't go into much detail.