How to play Even Minus Odd
Even Minus Odd is a dice game for 2-8 players. A round usually takes 10-20 minutes, and the recommended age is 6+.
Rules for Even Minus Odd: Roll six dice, count evens against odds and settle the difference in chips with the pot.
Setup
Even Minus Odd is played with six dice and chips, and suits two to eight players. Each player starts with ten chips, and a pot of spare chips sits in the middle of the table.
How to play
On your turn you roll all six dice in one throw. Then you count:
- How many dice show even numbers (2, 4 and 6)?
- How many show odd numbers (1, 3 and 5)?
The difference decides your turn. With more evens, you take that many chips from the pot. With more odds, you pay the difference into the pot. Roll four evens and two odds, for example, and you take two chips. Three of each means nothing happens, and the turn moves on.
Winning
Agree on a number of rounds in advance, for example ten. When the rounds are done, the player with the most chips wins. Run out of chips along the way and you are out of the game.
Variants
A tighter variant settles the difference directly between players: the roller settles with the player on their left instead of with the pot, which makes the swings faster. With kids you can drop the chips and note plus and minus points instead, turning the game into arithmetic practice.
More simple chip games: LCR and Aces in the Pot.
Is Even Minus Odd pure luck?
Yes, there are no decisions after the roll. The charm lies in the counting and the swings: six dice produce lopsided splits surprisingly often, and one turn can flip the whole account. That also makes it fine mental-arithmetic practice for kids.
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