Knucklebones Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How to Play
• Ranked Scores
• Ties

Components

Knucklebones are four bones, each with four different faces. Each face has a name and a score:

• Twisted side, "The Dog": 6 points
• Flat side, "The Chios": 1 point
• Concave side, "The Back": 3 points
• Convex side, "The Belly": 4 points

Setup

A game for two or more players with one set of four Knucklebones.

How to Play

1. Players take it in turns to throw, trying to get the highest score they can.
2. All four bones are thrown together.
3. The player then must decide which (if any) of the bones should be picked up and thrown again. However, if the player is happy with the score that they have from the first throw, they don't need to throw again.
4. After this second throw (of some or all the bones), the player gets to repeat Step 3 one more time. This second rethrow gives the final lie of the bones that is scored (see the ranking of scores below).
5. The winner of the game is the player with the highest score.

Ranked Scores

Scores are ranked from highest to lowest:

1. Venus Throw: four different faces showing. This is known as the Venus Throw. It beats everything except another Venus Throw. In that case, those players get to do a Throw-Of Rematch.
2. All four bones showing the same face.
3. Two pairs.
4. Three bones showing the same face.
5. Two bones showing the same face.

Ties

If there is a draw between two or more players having both scored the same number of matching faces, the winner may be chosen by which face they have a set of. Faces in rank order:

1. The Dog
2. The Belly
3. The Back
4. The Chios