Fuzzy dice, boasting, flailing arms, and squeals of laughter centered around one reveler wearing the fuzzy dice as a necklace. Sounds like a children’s pool party right? In reality, this is 24 rounds of a fast-paced dice game played by kids of all ages. Fun, food and friends are the main ingredients in a gathering to play a game of Bunco!
The game begins with the preparation of 12 score sheets with a star being drawn at the top of 4 of the sheets. Each player then picks a score sheet and whoever draws a sheet with a star, sits among those and the “Head Table”. This table sets the tempo for the game for the evening. The remaining players sit at the other tables, often labeled as the “Middle” or the “Losing” tables with 4 people to a table.
Each table randomly selects teams of 2 people each sit facing each other at the game table. Each table has 3 dice per a 4 person group, so the total number of dice needed for a 12 person group would be 12 dice. There are no set colors or sizes for the dice, the game simply requires a standard, six-sided dice, so robbing dice from other game packs would be perfectly acceptable. No other special equipment or addition game pieces needed.
The game begins with the head table ringing a bell signaling the beginning of a round. One player at each table tries to roll a number 1 with all three dice. For each 1 that is rolled a tally of 1 point is scored for that person. If a person rolls the required number on all three dice, this is called a “Bunco” and counts as 21 points, plus 1 Bunco point placed at the bottom the score sheet. If at any a gamer at the head table reaches 21 points or a Bunco is attained, the bell rings signaling the end of that round.
The next number for subsequent rounds then rises by 1 for the following rounds. Each team member either writes a W or L for that round signifying a Win or a Lose on their sheet for that particular round. The tables now split up with winners from the middle table moving up to the head table and the losers from the head table moving down one to the middle table. The losers from the middle table now move down one to the losers table, however, everyone moves over one chair, so no one has the same partner. Laughter and confusion surely ensue at this point.
The head table once again sounds the bell for play to begin at each table as described above. Everyone continues to play in this fashion until there are two complete sets played. The social part of the evening then begins as everyone takes a break for refreshments and visiting. The game resumes as before and ends when 2 more sets have been completed, totaling 4 sets for the evening. The scores are then tallied and prizes are awarded to the winners. However, at the end of the gathering, everyone wins with laughter, fellowship and great food.