I’m back again with another Family Game Shelf original dice game. This time it’s Shark Bite. I have to say I’m not a fan of the Shark Week hoopla but I did find myself swept away a little this year at least with idea of sharks and how people love to hate them. This game also joins our other animal themed games like Bat Dice, Monkey Dice, Turkey Dice and Zebra Races.
Let’s get into Shark Bite.
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What You Need
You will need eight standard dice plus a set of dice for each player. You will also need a pen and paper to keep score. We love to play so that everyone has their own colour of dice. You can shop dice here. Canadians here.
How to Play Shark Bite Dice
To start, pick one player to be the first swimmer. This player will start with 8 dice. All other players start with two dice.
The swimmer will roll all 8 dice. Any pairs get set aside and she can roll again if she would like or she can say stop. If she continues to roll, she will set aside any pairs that she rolls. She can then roll again. If she chooses to stop she must say “stop” loud enough for everyone to hear. She can now go scoring.
In the meantime, when the swimmer rolls her dice for the first time, the sharks (the other players) must count to 6 before they are allowed to roll their dice. Now when a shark rolls a double, he calls out “Bite”. When this happens the swimmer stops rolling and the shark gains all of the swimmer’s points.
If the swimmer has called out stop before a shark bites, she gets to keep her points.
Scoring
The doubles that are rolled are what is used to get the score for the round. A pair is worth the amount on one of the dice. For example a double 2 is worth 2 points and a double 6 is worth 6 points. If a swimmer successfully said stop before a shark bite, then she scores that amount of points for the round. On the other hand, if a shark bit her, then that shark scores that amount of points.
All doubles bonus. If a swimmer has succeeded in getting all of her dice in doubles she gets a 5 point bonus. If she gets all 8 dice in doubles and a shark bites her before she can say stop, the shark does not get the bonus points.
An example Game:
Swimmer One roll one: 2, 2, 3, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4 – will set aside the 2, 2, and 3, 3 If she stops now she would have 5 points. Roll two: 5, 5, 1, 6 – she says stop and her score for the round is 10.
Swimmer Two roll one: 1, 1, 4, 4, 2, 4, 5, 6 – will set aside the 1, 1 and 4, 4 (his score is 5) Roll two: 4, 4, 1, 6 But shark one has called out “bite.” Shark one gains the 9 points and the swimmer get no points.
Swimmer Three roll one: 1, 1, 1, 1, 6, 6, 3, 5 (score is 8). Roll two is 1, 2 and she rerolls both dice. Roll three is 4, 4. She calls stop before a shark bites her and her score is 12 plus a 5 point bonus to make 17.
Winning Shark Bite
The first player to reach 50 points is the winner.
A Bite Of Fun
Shark Bite is a fast moving game of speed with a push-your-luck component. It’s a great game for Shark Week, summer game night or any time you want a bite of fun.
For more animals games check out Ants dice game, Save the Turtles and Pig. Check out our Whacky Putt mini golf game too with many animal themed holes. Visit our Family Game Shelf shop for tons of fun with seasonal and original games.
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