Balut
Five dice. Seven rows. Four boxes each.
The five-dice game with a bigger score sheet: roll, hold what you like, roll again, then fill a box in one of seven rows. Four boxes to a row means 28 turns, and points for a strong sheet decide who wins. Here is everything you need to know before you sit down at the table.
- Free practice
- No sign-up
- Play in your browser
Join a Game Room
BalutGot a room code?
- Players
- 2 to 6
- You need
- Five dice
- Style
- Roll and score
- Goal
- Most points
What is Balut?
Roll. Hold. Fill the sheet.
Balut is played with five dice and a score sheet. On your turn you roll the dice up to three times, holding any you like between rolls, then score the result in a box. A turn is always the same; the choice is where the dice go.
The sheet has seven rows, and each row has four boxes. That is 28 turns to fill it, so a bad roll never ruins the game. You win on points: strong rows earn incentive points, and so does a high total score.
The practice table
Try itLearn it one box at a time.
Play a full sheet on your own with our Classic rules. The coach tells you which dice to hold, when to stop, and where each roll fits best.
- 28 turns, three rolls each, seven rows of four boxes.
- See your incentive points and your best score when the sheet is full.
- Turn the coach off when you want to play it straight. No account, nothing saved.
Classic Balut 28 turns
Turn 1/28Best points: –
Your dice
3 rolls this turn
Score sheet
Total score0
Turn 1 of 28. Roll all five dice.
You get three rolls a turn. Between rolls, tap dice to hold them.
Quick rules
- Roll five dice up to three times a turn. Between rolls, hold any dice and reroll the rest.
- Then score the dice in a box. Each of the seven rows has four boxes, so 28 turns fill the sheet.
- Fours, Fives, Sixes: add up the dice showing that number.
- Straight: 1 to 5 scores 15, 2 to 6 scores 20. Full House (three of one number, two of another) and Choice score the total of all five dice.
- Balut (five of a kind) scores 20 plus the total of the dice.
- If the dice do not fit the box you pick, it scores 0.
- At the end you earn incentive points for strong rows and a high total. They decide who wins; the total score breaks ties.
Found a bug, or a rule that feels off?Tell us in our Discord →
A little history
A dice game with a long score sheet.
Balut belongs to the same family as Yacht: five dice, three rolls and a sheet of boxes, each filled once. What sets it apart is the bigger sheet, with four boxes in each of seven rows, and the incentive points.
Clubs and rule sets differ on the details. Some tables fill one box a row and go by total score; others use four and give points. Ours is the four-box version, and we show the rules before every game.
Fun facts
- A full sheet is 28 turns: seven rows with four boxes each.
- A Balut is five of a kind. It scores 20 plus the total of the dice, so five 6s make 50.
- A total score under 300 loses 2 incentive points. The first points start at 400.
Why people love it
Simple turns. Deep sheets.
One turn, always the same.
Roll, hold, roll, hold, roll, score. Anyone can learn the turn in a minute.
Four chances at every row.
A bad roll is only a quarter of a row. You can take a zero where it hurts least and recover.
The sheet is a plan.
Straights, full houses and big number rows each want different rolls, so you spend each roll where it counts.
The big prizes are hard to land.
A Balut comes up about one turn in twenty. When one lands, it is worth a lot.
How to play
Roll. Hold. Score a box.
Setup
- Players: two to six at a real table. Practice is solo, against your own best.
- Dice: five six-sided dice.
- Your sheet: seven rows, four boxes in each. A row can be scored four times.
- A turn: up to three rolls, then one box.
Winning
Fill all 28 boxes. The most incentive points win, and the total score breaks ties. In practice you play against your own best.
- 1
Roll all five dice
Every turn starts with a roll of all five.
- 2
Hold, then roll again
Keep any dice you like and roll the rest. You can do this twice more, three rolls in all.
- 3
Score one box
Pick a row that still has an empty box. Your dice score there, or the box takes 0 if they do not fit.
- 4
Straights and houses
A straight is 1 to 5 (15 points) or 2 to 6 (20). A full house is three of one number and a pair, scoring all five dice.
- 5
Balut
Five of a kind scores 20 plus the total of the dice. Five of a kind is not a full house.
- 6
Don’t burn a row too soon
A zero in Choice costs far more than a zero in Balut. Put weak rolls where they cost the least.
These are our Classic rules, taken from the Feral Game Kit's Balut definition. They will be shown in every room before the game starts. Printable rules card →
Lessons
Learn it in a few minutes.
6 quick lessons, one idea each. Make the call, see why it works, and move on. Your progress is saved in this browser.
The number rows
Your dice show 5, 5, 5, 2, 6. What do they score in a Fives box?
Scoring
Add up the boxes.
Each box scores its own way. At the end of the game, strong rows and a high total score earn incentive points, and the points decide the winner.
| What your dice show | Looks like | You score |
|---|---|---|
| Fours (three 4s) | 12 | |
| Fives (four 5s) | 20 | |
| Sixes (four 6s) | 24 | |
| Straight, 1 to 5 | 15 | |
| Straight, 2 to 6 | 20 | |
| Full House | 22 | |
| Choice | 23 | |
| Balut | 35 |
Incentive points: Fours 52 or more earns 2, Fives 65 or more earns 2, Sixes 78 or more earns 2, Choice 100 or more earns 2, a straight in every Straight box earns 4, a full house in every Full House box earns 3, and each Balut earns 2. The total score adds or takes points: under 300 is minus 2, 300 to 349 is minus 1, 350 to 399 is 0, then 1 for each 50 up to 6 at 650.
Strategy
Play it smart. Then play it feral.
Tip 1
Aim for the number rows.
Fours, Fives and Sixes need 52, 65 and 78 for their points. Four sixes in each Sixes box is the target.
Tip 2
Put zeros in Balut.
A Balut box averages under 2 points. When nothing fits, a zero there costs the least.
Tip 3
Save Choice for a big roll.
Choice takes any roll, but it needs 100 for its points. Spend a low roll somewhere else.
Tip 4
Straights are worth the wait.
You need a straight in all four Straight boxes for 4 points. Chase one when you have four in a row.
Tip 5
Watch your total.
Under 300 costs 2 points, so every box counts toward the bracket.
What would you do?
One decision. Every day.
A new Balut puzzle every day, the same for everyone. Solve it, then send it to the group chat and see who gets it right.
Want more? See today's puzzles for every game →
Your path to game night
Learn it here. Play it with friends.
Finish the lessons or win a practice game and you're ready to sit down at a real Balut table with your people.
The Feral Worlds community
Play-testing Balut? Tell us in Discord.
Found a bug, a rule that feels off, or a house rule your family swears by? Our Discord is where we collect play-test feedback, and where game nights are starting to happen.
Glossary
Talk like a regular.
- Box
- One space on the sheet. Each is filled once.
- Row
- A category with four boxes, such as Fours or Straight.
- Balut
- Five of a kind. It scores 20 plus the total of the dice.
- Hold
- Keeping dice you like while you roll the others.
- Full House
- Three of one number and a pair. It scores all five dice.
- Straight
- 1 to 5 scores 15. 2 to 6 scores 20.
- Choice
- A row that takes any roll and scores the total of the dice.
- Incentive points
- Points for strong rows and a high total. They decide the winner.
The Feral twist
Still under the hat.
Every game can be played Classic. In Feral mode, the host writes the house rules: how many boxes a row has, how a straight scores, whether a Balut adds the dice. We'll show you what Balut can do when it's ready.
In the Dice Games pack
Balut is on the ballot.
Backers vote on which dice games join the Dice Games pack. Owning the pack means every one that joins is yours too.
$9.95, one time, to host every game in it. Playing is always free. Packs go on sale when the full game launches.
Balut is on the ballot
Save me a seat.
Hear when the Kickstarter opens so you can vote Balut into the Dice Games pack, and when you can host it with friends.