How to play Pursuing Sheep

Pursuing Sheep is a Chinese dice game with long roots, where the throws take their names from herding: the dice are the sheep, and the players chase the flock. The game exists in many regional variants, and sources describe it differently. The rules below are a playable, modern reconstruction that sticks to the core of the game.

The game is played with six dice and chips, and suits two to six players. Each player starts with ten chips, and everyone antes one chip into the pot before each round. Traditionally this is a gambling game, so use chips and let the flock be the honour.

On your turn you roll all six dice in one throw. For a valid throw you need at least three of a kind: the three matching dice are the shepherd. The other three dice are your flock, and their sum is your score for the round.

• Six of a kind: the whole flock is gathered. You win the pot immediately.
• Three of a kind plus 4-5-6: the best ordinary throw, a flock of 15.
• Three of a kind plus 1-2-3: the worst valid throw, a flock of 6.
• No three of a kind: invalid throw. You may reroll, up to three attempts in total. Fail, and your flock is 0 this round.

Once everyone has rolled, the player with the biggest flock wins the pot. Ties are settled with an extra round between the players involved. Play until someone runs out of chips, or count up after an agreed number of rounds.

Some variants use a banker, with everyone playing against the bank instead of each other, and fixed throws paying fixed amounts. Elsewhere the shepherd must be three fours for the throw to count. Agree on the variant before the first roll.

The structure of qualifying three dice and counting the rest may feel familiar from Cee-lo and Ship, Captain and Crew.

The name is a translation of the game's Chinese name, where the dice are seen as a flock of sheep to be gathered. Roll six of a kind and you have caught the whole flock, and you are rewarded accordingly.