Dice Curling — Rules & how to play

A Derevo original · Made for good company

Bring the decisions of curling to the table. Roll two dice, choose your weight and line, and place your stones closer to the button than your opponent’s.

Download printable rules (PDF)

Shop Dice Curling — $42 CAD

At a glance

• Players: 2, or 4 in two teams of two
• Play time: 20–30 minutes
• Ages: 8+
• Style: Family dice game
• Standard game: 4 ends; optional 6 or 8 ends

What’s included

• Engraved maple board
• 16 stones: 8 red and 8 blue
• 2 six-sided dice
• 6 pegs: 2 score, 1 end, 1 hammer and 2 sweep
• Felt bag

Object of the game

Place your stones closer to the centre of the house—the button—than your opponent’s. Score at the end of each end. The team with the most points after the final end wins.

Know the board

• House: The button, then the 4-foot, 8-foot and 12-foot rings.
• Holes: Five in the hatched guard zone and fifteen in the house, arranged in a front row, tee line row and back row. The button is the centre hole on the tee line.
• Lanes: Five columns, viewed from the throwing end: far left, left, centre, right and far right.
• Hog line and back line: The heavy lines in front of the guard zone and behind the house. A stone pushed past the back row is out.
• Weight and line guides: The engraved dice down the left edge and along the hog line show where each result goes.
• Rank key: The numbers beside the house show how close each hole is to the button.
• Bench: Each team’s rack, with sweep and hammer holes between them. Red’s rack is on the left (R), blue’s on the right (B).

Setup

1. Sit side by side at the throwing end, each team beside its rack.
2. Put each team’s eight stones in its rack holes.
3. Put the score pegs at 0, the end peg at 1, and a sweep peg in each sweep hole.
4. Each team rolls a die. The high roll takes the hammer; reroll ties. Put the hammer peg in that team’s hammer hole.

The hammer is the last stone of the end. The other team throws first. Teams alternate until the hammer team throws the sixteenth stone.

Throwing a stone

Lift stones from hole to hole by hand. Roll the dice on the table, never on the board. On your turn, roll both dice and choose which is WEIGHT and which is LINE. On doubles, you may curl. Take one stone from your rack and resolve the shot.

Example: Roll 4 and 3. With a clear path, weight 4 and line 3 put your stone on the button; weight 3 and line 4 put it in the centre of the front row of the house.

How a stone travels

Check the holes in the stone’s lane from the guard zone toward its target row. If they are empty, put it in the target hole. If you reach an occupied hole first, contact happens there.

Curl: doubles only

The stone travels its lane through the guard zone, then curls one lane left or right for the house rows. Choose the direction. Far-left stones curl right; far-right stones curl left. Curl has no effect on weight 1 or 2. Use a curl to get around a guard.

Contact

1. Your stone stops in the occupied hole.
2. The stone it hit moves back one row in its lane.
3. Any stone directly behind moves back too, through an unbroken chain only.
4. A stone pushed off the back row is removed.

Move the chain from the back first, then put your stone in place. Contact works the same on your own stones.

Takeouts: weight 6

Remove the first stone in the path, of either colour. Your thrown stone rolls out too. If the path is empty, your stone slides through and is removed. Removed stones stay off the board until the end is over; do not put them back in the rack during the end.

Sweeping

Once per team per end, add 1 to a weight of 1, 2, 3 or 4. You cannot sweep a 5 into a takeout. Declare the sweep before resolving the shot and pull your sweep peg. Sweeping only matters if the path is clear.

Scoring an end

After all sixteen stones, only stones in the house count. A lower rank is closer to the button, which has rank 0.

The team with the best stone scores one point for each of its stones ranked better than the opponent’s best. If the opponent has no stones in the house, count all of yours in the house.

Tied best stones: Measure by having each team roll a die. The high roll scores exactly one point.

Blank end: If there are no stones in the house, neither team scores and the hammer stays where it is.

After each end

Peg the score. Past 20, go around again and add 20. The team that scored gives up the hammer. Return the stones to the racks, put the sweep pegs back, and advance the end peg.

Winning

Play four ends for a standard game, six for a longer game, or eight for a full game. The most points wins. If tied, play extra ends until someone scores. Losing badly? Offer a handshake, as curlers do.

Playing in teams

With four players, form two teams of two. Teammates take turns throwing their team’s stones. The thrower decides the shot; talking it over is encouraged.

Optional ways to play

Free guard zone: During the first five stones of an end, an opponent’s guard cannot be taken out. Put it back and remove the thrown stone instead.

Skins: Each end is worth one skin; end four is worth two. The hammer team needs two or more points to win the skin; the other team wins it with any score. Otherwise it carries over. The most skins after four ends wins.

Strategy tips

• Check both dice assignments on every roll.
• Guards shield the holes behind them, except from a curl.
• Push your own stones deeper on purpose.
• With the hammer, aim for two or more points. Without it, hold the other team to one or steal.

Download printable rules (PDF)

Handmade in Canada by Derevo · Good curling!

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