About Free Printable Pig (Dice) Rules
Free printable Pig dice game rules — push-your-luck for 2–10 players with one die. Roll, decide to hold or risk, first to 100 wins. Diagrams, sample scoresheet, variants. B&W option.
How to use
- Choose your print style. Full color uses a warm pink accent with white dice that look great as a family game-night reference on the fridge. Ink-saver (black & white) switches to a high-contrast monochrome version — ideal for a classroom probability lesson where you need a class set.
- Choose whether to show dice diagrams. Diagrams on (the default) includes the six-face dice reference (with the 1 flagged in danger-red), the roll/hold/pig-out turn-flow chart, a sample turn walkthrough, and a sample scoresheet showing busted turns struck through. Text only gives the most compact summary.
- Read the preview to confirm the layout — the rules flow from objective and setup, through what each die face means, the turn flow (roll, decide, repeat), a walkthrough turn, scoring at a glance, the sample scoresheet, the win condition, special rules and strategy (the famous 'hold at 20'), and four popular variants (Two-Dice Pig, Big Pig, Hog, Skunk).
- Click Print Rules to send it to your printer or save it as a PDF. The full illustrated guide prints cleanly across one or two standard letter or A4 pages; choose Text only for the most compact summary.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Pig the dice game?
Roll a single six-sided die. If you roll 2–6, add it to your turn total. After each roll, decide: roll again to grow the total, or hold to bank it. If you ever roll a 1, your turn total drops to 0 and the die passes — but your banked score is safe. First to bank 100 points wins.
What happens if you roll a 1 in Pig?
Rolling a 1 is called 'pigging out'. Your turn total resets to 0 instantly and the die passes to the next player. Your banked score is NOT affected — only the points you built up this turn are lost. That is the whole risk-reward engine of the game.
What is the 'hold at 20' strategy?
Analysis by Neller & Presser (Gettysburg College) shows holding at a turn total of 20 is a simple heuristic for two-player Pig — about an 8% disadvantage vs perfectly optimal play. 'Hold at 25' is closer to optimal (~4% disadvantage) but harder to track mid-game. The truly optimal policy depends on both players' banked scores (push harder when behind).
How many players can play Pig?
2 to 10 players, best with 2–6. Larger groups mean longer waits between turns. For classroom probability lessons, groups of 3–4 keep everyone engaged and let a full game finish in 10–20 minutes.
What is the difference between Pig and Big Pig?
Big Pig uses two dice. A single 1 still ends your turn (banked score safe). Double 1s set your turn total to 25 — wiping any other points you had built up that turn, but your banked score is safe and you may keep rolling. Any other double scores double the face value (double 4s = +16). The harsher Two-Dice Pig variant wipes your entire banked score on double 1s — a true catastrophic bust.
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