How to play Chicago

Chicago is played with two dice and suits two players and up. You need pen and paper for scoring. The game is also known as Rotation, and a full match consists of eleven rounds, one for each possible sum from 2 to 12.

The rounds are played in order. In the first round the target is a sum of 2, in the second a sum of 3, and so on up to 12 in the final round.

Each round, every player rolls both dice once. Hit the round's sum and you score that many points: rolling 5 in the fives round scores 5 points. Miss, and you get nothing that round.

After eleven rounds the points are added up, and the player with the highest total wins. Note that the high rounds are worth the most: hitting 10, 11 and 12 near the end can turn the whole match.

A common variant allows several rolls per round, for example three attempts at the round's sum with only the best attempt counting. Another plays the rounds from 12 back down to 2 as well, doubling the length of the match.

If you like races through fixed targets, try Round the Clock or Centennial.

With two dice and one roll per player, the eleven rounds are done in about fifteen minutes, even with many players. That makes Chicago a fine game while waiting for dinner or between two longer games.