Square Shooters
Square Shooters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
About SQUARE SHOOTERS Dice
- SQUARE SHOOTERS is not just a great game, it's a complete deck of cards on dice!
- Each die has 6 faces. Nine dice together have 54 faces – a complete deck of 52 playing cards plus 2 jokers.
- Our patented design places the traditional playing card faces on the dice in such a way that popular card hands for most playing card games can be consistently rolled.
- For instance, you can roll every possible straight flush, royal flush, 4-of-a-kind and all sorts of full houses!
- You can use our dice to play or modify any game you usually play with cards—or you can play all sorts of new games using the SQUARE SHOOTERS dice. Just visit www.squareshooters.com for more game rules and ideas!
Contents
- One set of nine dice—a full deck of playing cards are printed on the dice! You can easily make sure you have a full deck by turning the dice so you can see all 4 aces, all 4 kings, and the black joker.
- One set of 42 game cards, including:
- 34 "target" cards. The target cards illustrate typical playing card "hands" that the players will try to roll during their turn.
- 8 "shootout" cards. The shootout cards bring surprising twists to the game that can change your luck!
- 100 scorekeeping chips
- One storage pouch
Target Cards and Target Hands
"Target hands" are the hands you are trying to roll during each round. These target hands are printed on the 34 target cards. SQUARE SHOOTERS includes several target cards for seven types of playing card hands. These hands are shown in Figure 1, and are ranked in order of difficulty to achieve. The hands that are more difficult to roll earn more chips than the easier hands!
FIGURE 1 – Square Shooters Target Hand Summary
| Rank | Exact Match (chips) | Any Kind (chips) | Target Hand | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2 | Two Pairs: Two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank | 4♣ 4♦ J♣ J♥ |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | Four of a Kind: Four cards of the same rank | 10♦ 10♠ 10♥ 10♣ |
| 3 | 6 | 3 | Straight: Five cards of any suit ranked in sequence | 3♥ 4♣ 5♠ 6♣ 7♦ |
| 4 | 6 | 3 | Flush: Any five cards of the same suit | 2♥ 6♥ 9♥ Q♥ A♥ |
| 5 | 8 | 4 | Full House: Three cards of one rank and two of another rank |
The Classic SQUARE SHOOTERS® Game
Object: Win chips by rolling the correct target hand during each round of play. A round consists of every player taking a turn. The player who has won the most chips at the end of eight rounds is the winner! Note: If you'd like to play for more or less time, just increase or decrease the number of rounds.
Rules:
- Set the chips aside in a "chip bank" from which players can collect their winnings. Players do not receive chips to start the game.
- Shuffle the game cards and place in a pile face down where everybody can reach them but they won't get knocked over by the tumbling dice!
- Decide who goes first, and then play passes to the left.
- On your turn, flip over a card. If one of the "target" cards is turned, the player who turned the card has three rolls of the dice to try to match the hand that is shown on that card. All nine dice can be rolled by the player.
- When a player's turn is complete, players discard all game cards used during the turn, face down in a discard pile. The cards in the discard pile may need to be reshuffled and used again to complete the game.
- Play continues with the next player choosing a game card.
Two ways to win chips!
- If the player matches the exact hand shown on the target card in three rolls or less, the player wins the total chips indicated on the target card.
- If the player matches the type of hand shown on the target card in three rolls or less, the player wins one-half the total chips indicated on the target card.
For instance, if the target hand is "Four of a Kind" and shows four aces, the player could roll four 10's (or four of any other rank), and they win one-half the total chips indicated.
So you have a choice to make: go for the exact hand and the type of hand shown and get at least some chips (easier). Some people make this choice when they see what happens after their first roll of the dice!
- Bonus: If the player rolls the exact hand shown in less than three rolls, the player gets a five (5) chip bonus! Note that you don't get the bonus if you use a joker to complete your hand.
- Let younger players win more chips by giving them all of the chips indicated on a target card, even if they only roll the type of hand shown, but not the exact hand. If the adults in the group stick to the original instructions but the kids have an easier chance to win chips, it's more fun for everyone!
- After the first and second rolls, the player may choose to leave a die or dice on the table and only roll the remaining dice. A player would do this because the dice left on the table are the best choices for trying to roll the target hand for that round. A player can always pick up and roll all nine dice for the second and third rolls.
- Standard game play assumes that the jokers are wild: one or both jokers can be used to match the target!
- Or, the players can agree to exclude the jokers from play to make it more difficult to match a hand.
- Players who do not roll either the exact target hand or the type of hand shown on their card get no chips for that round.
Here is what happens if a player draws one of the 8 "shootout" cards:
There are four different types of shootout cards: 1) Double-Down, 2) Quick-Draw, 3) Showdown, and 4) Joker Card. Once these cards are played, they are placed in the discard pile and not used again.
- Double-Down: When you draw this card, you keep it until you want to use it. Set the card aside and draw again to continue your turn as usual. Whenever you are taking a turn, you can play this card after you make your first roll. You must play this card before your second roll. If you win chips during that turn, the chips you won according to the usual rules are doubled!
- Quick Draw: When you draw this card, you keep it until you want to use it. Set the card aside and draw again to continue your turn as usual. Whenever an opponent is taking a turn, you can play this card after the opponent makes his first roll. You must play this card before the opponent's second roll. If the opponent wins chips during that turn, you will be given the same number of chips as your opponent has won. (You both receive the winning chip quantity.)
- Showdown: When you draw this card, you choose one player to face you in a "showdown" contest. You each have 3 rolls of the dice to roll the best possible hand as ranked in Figure 1. The player rolling the best hand wins up to 6 chips from the other player. If the losing player does not have 6 chips, the winning player collects all of the chips owned by the losing player at that time, and collects the difference from the chip bank. For example, if the losing player only has 2 chips, the winning player takes those chips then also collects 4 chips from the bank. When you draw this card -- this is your turn -- you do not draw another card and roll as usual.
- Joker Card: When you draw this card, you keep it until you want to use it. Set the card aside and draw again to continue your turn as usual. Whenever you are taking a turn, this card acts as a wild card to help you complete any hand. You can play this card to complete any hand just like if you had rolled a joker with the dice.
Tiebreaker: If two or more players have the same chip count at the end of all eight rounds, then the tied players square off in more rounds of play until one player wins more chips than the other!
Optional Tiebreaker: The tied players face off in a showdown, just like the instructions on the showdown card!
A Fun Variation to the Classic Game
If you need more chips, just use pennies!
In the classic game, each player turns their own game card and tries for the target hand they turn over. Each player can turn target cards that are worth different chips, which brings a level of chance to the game in addition to the chance of the dice roll itself.
A fun alternative is for the players to roll for the same target hand during each round. The first player turns over a game card, and then all players try to roll that card. This way, everybody has the same chance to roll for the same amount of chips.
After each player is done rolling in a round, then a different person chooses a new card for the group (choosing the game cards proceeds in order, moving left from the first player who chose a card).
If a "shootout" card is turned, then that player can keep the shootout card and then draws again. The shootout card belongs only to the player who selected it, and he can play it at any time as described above in the instructions for the classic game.
SQUARE SHOOTOUT: Another Fun Variation!
Chose one target card for each type of hand and set aside the rest. Place the seven selected cards face up, in order as ranked in Figure 1 (Two Pairs being the first card, Royal Flush being the last card). The players will play for seven rounds, using all seven cards once. In each round, all players will roll to match the target card that is showing. The cards are played in order, from the lowest ranking hand to the highest. Each round consists of every player trying to match the target card, with three rolls of the dice as described in the classic game instructions. The twist with this version is that the stakes get higher with each round, and players who are behind always have a chance to catch-up!
Other Great Games!
Rummy: Grab a piece of scrap paper and a writing instrument! Each player rolls three times, trying to build the best rummy sets or runs. A "set" is three or four cards of the same rank (e.g. 777, AAAA, etc.). A "run" is three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order (e.g. 8, 9, and 10). After each roll, the player may set some dice aside and roll only the remaining dice. A player may try to roll any combination of sets or runs. Some dice might not fit into a set or a run, and these dice are not counted. The dice that fit into a set or a run are counted and scored on your own scrap paper. Decide for yourselves if you want to use the jokers as wild cards. Choose a winning score to play for & start rolling!
Rummy Point Values:
- K-Q-J = 10 points
- A = 15 points when used as a set, (AAA) or at the high end of a run (Example: AKQ)
- A = 1 Point when used at the low end of a run (Example: A, 2, 3)
- All other cards are worth their face value. (Example: 10=10, 9=9, 8=8 points, etc.)
Showdown – Version 1: Moving clockwise from the first player, each player gets one to three rolls to obtain the best hand. All nine dice are rolled, but a maximum 5 dice are used to make the best hand possible. The different hands are ranked according to Figure 1. Players decide whether to allow jokers to be wild. (Note: if Jokers are wild, it is possible to roll a five-of-a-kind or a six-of-a-kind. These hands are superior to any hand shown in Figure 1.) The player with the best hand (after all players have rolled in a round) wins.
Showdown – Version 2: The first player in the group takes up to 3 rolls to achieve the best possible hand. All of the other players attempt to beat the first player's hand, but they are limited to the number of rolls the first player used! The player with the best hand after everybody rolls, wins.
Twenty-One: Players choose a dealer to begin play. Dealing moves to the left after each round. The dealer rolls one die to each player, including himself. The face card that shows after the dice stops rolling is the player's first card. The dealer rolls another die to each player. After each player has two dice, they can each decide if they want another die rolled to them or not. The goal is to achieve a total score of "21" or to be the closest to the score without going over! The closest player wins. All face cards count as 10 points. Aces can be counted as either 1 or 11. Decide for yourselves if you want to use the jokers as wild cards or simply exclude them from play (if they are rolled, just roll that die again to complete the player's turn). Note that a maximum of three players can play with the nine dice—but this game plays best with 2 players. Or just grab a few more sets of dice and you can have as many players as you like!
Fun With Both the Dice and Playing Cards!
Here's a simple game to show how fun the Square Shooters® dice can be when used to play games with regular playing cards!
Old Town Shootout: Object of the game - Be the first player to get rid of all your cards! Use standard deck of playing cards, without the jokers. Each player is dealt five cards, which are left on the table face up. Players roll all nine dice once, and discard any or all of their five cards which are matched by any of the rolled dice. If a player rolls a Joker, the player is allowed to give another player any card of his choice. The game is over when a round is completed and at least one player is out of cards. Note that a player who shoots out all of his cards in a round might get roped back into the game if someone rolls a joker before that round is over!
Endless Enjoyment...
The Square Shooters® dice can be used to play or modify almost any existing card game...with countless more games waiting to be invented! Visit our website at www.squareshooters.com to find instructions for more games and to see what other fans are doing with the dice!