Lucky Dog is a dice game where the dog always wins. There are two ways to play: A free-for-all 2-4 player version, and a 2 player cooperative version.
In the free-for-all version players take turns revealing 5 cards with parameters (such as 3 of a kind, 3 in a row, two pair, etc.) The player rolls 5 six sided dice and then may discard and reveal one new card. The player then gets an opportunity to reroll any of the dice up to twice, trying to fulfill the parameters of as many of the cards as possible. When they are done re-rolling, they take and score any of the revealed cards that the dice fulfill the parameters for. Players take turns in this manner until a player reaches 20 points, then the player with the most points at the end of the round wins.
In the 2 player cooperative version, each player will have 2 hidden cards in their hand. The player who's turn it is rolls all five dice and choose to 'keep' any of the dice, but must choose at least one. The second player takes and rolls any of the un-kept dice, then they can keep any of the dice, but must keep at least one. Players roll dice back and forth like this until all dice are kept. As soon as that happens, both players can score any cards in their hand that the dice meet the parameters for. If the players collectively score at least one card, they may keep playing by drawing up to two cards and starting a new round. If they can't score a card, it's game over with a total score equal to all the cards scored.
- Huge hit with family
- Works surprisingly well
- Light, fast version of Yahtzee
- Doesn't have ongoing strategy, all tactics
- Scratches the same itch as Yahtzee but faster
- Cute
- Went over well
- Yahtzee
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice Rolling — on a player's turn they're just gonna roll the dice and they're trying to achieve these different objectives
- Push Your Luck — after you roll once you get to pick some dice you want to keep what you don't want to keep
- Set Collection — conditions you're trying to get short walk two three four three in a row
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's like a light fast version of yahtzee where you don't have to have like your ongoing it doesn't like I mean this in a good way it doesn't have any of the strategy it's all tactics it's all like what the am I gonna roll how am I gonna do and in that way you know some people have really big rounds others don't but for like an after dinner game it like scratches the same itch but just went faster
- but it worked and it's cute
- i like this and this is gonna we're gonna keep this unless i got asked to send it back and play it some more because it definitely went over well
References (from this video)
- Monolith
- Sirius Pope
- Bombay
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The greatest worker placement game of all time gets even better.
- Yeah, that board game is famously sucky.
- It actually has some interesting ideas, but yeah, the game was trash.
- I feel like you're leaving money on the table.
- The Manhattan Project name carried a lot of passion and creativity under James Matthew. After playing this game, I felt a sense of dread.
- The crowd's like cheering and it immediately goes fullon boo.
- It's like, 'Oh my gosh, this is turning into a young man, like a teenager.'
- I went downstairs, got the extension cord which I was using for something else down in the cellar and instead of closing the trap I left it open...
- He he he just shattered the image he's been working on for 20 years.