More of an oral history of Chicago dice games than 'best of the world', with lots of in-jokes and photos of local characters posing for the camera with their dice. Not a bad read, but it's not very exhaustive in its coverage, spends a lot of time poring over very minor variants, and where it does give rules for a game, they're not written. Best of the World's Best Dice Games is an excellent guide to teach, provide tips and strategies on how to win in a variety of dices games. World's Best Dice Games in category 'Family Games Traditional Games Other Family Games', made by Front Porch Classics. Buy online at Firestorm Games.
Published by Front Porch Classics, World's Best Dice Games is nicely packaged collection of 57 various dice that also includes a 3-minute timer, 60 mini poker chips, a dice cup, a pad of universal scoring sheets and instructions to play 25 dice games. Rules and instructions are included for the following dice games: Crag; Hooligan; General; Yacht; Chicago; Ship, Captain, Mate and Crew; Drop Dead; Centennial; Everest; Shut The Box; Catego; Liar's Dice; Help Your Neighbor, Aces in the Pot; Seven Up; Eleven Up; Bouncer; Hazzard; Boss Dice; Poker Dice; Poker Hunt; Bowling Dice; Alphabet Dice; and Crossword Dice.
The Dice
There are three sets of five regular six-sided 'pip' dice, two sets of five poker dice (Ace thru 9's), two sets of five bowling dice, and 22 letter dice that are used to play the many games listed in the 16-page book. The instructions are explained nicely and include diagrams and illustrations for rules, instructions and scoring.
The Games
3 card poker practice. The box says that the set is geared towards 2+ players and players aged 8+, and we agree that most of the games listed may not be interesting for younger children, but the dice included could be used to play many other games with younger kids (Big Pig andBeetle, for example). Some of the games can only be played by two or three players only, while other games can be played by more players.
Dice World 6 Games
There is a good variety of classic and dice popular games to keep you busy and engaged for quite a while. My favorite games (depending on who I am playing with) would include Liar's Dice, although you would need more than the single dice cup that is included. Other games I enjoyed were Yacht (Yahtzee) General (a simpler version of Yacht we call Escalero) and the games with the bowling dice and letter dice. I do wish that there was at least one set of six matching dice for playing games like 10,000(Zilch, Farkel), but this is a minor complaint.
Best Dice Baseball Games
At around $35 suggested retail (but we found it on Amazon less for less than $20) the nice packaging and complete instructions for a large number of games the World's Best Dice Games would make great gift set for birthdays or Christmas as well as a great box to add to a family game collection and has a lot of value. The only drawback would be that it is a large box and meant for home gaming and not designed or meant for travel.
does make a smaller, more portable version of this set: 'Outfitters Best Dice Games – Travel Games For the Trail Less Traveled' that has 20 games and 36 dice in a drawstring bag for around $13.99 retail (less than $11 on Amazon).
Overall, we really like World's Best Dice Games and think that it is awell thought out collection of varied dice games and would recommend it to you as a gift for yourself or for others. If you are just getting into dice games or looking for new and different games to play with friends and family, this set is a good choice.
Best Card Games
Plus, when you get through all the games included and are looking for more games to try, you can find plenty of sites (like this one!) where you can get rules and instructions for games like Bar Dice, Klondike and many more. Or, you could get a book on dice games like Dice Games Properly Explained by Reiner Knizia (ISBN 978-0-97310252-1-6) which would keep anyone busy with many different dice games to learn and play for a very long time.