Game rules

How to play five classic table games, written for a real table and a real deck.

• How to play Farkle

  Farkle is a push-your-luck dice game played with six dice. Each turn you roll, set aside dice that score, and decide whether to bank your points or roll the rest again — but a roll with nothing that scores wipes out the whole turn. The first player to reach the target score sets off a final round, and the highest total wins.

• How to play Left-Right-Center (LCR)

  Left-Right-Center, or LCR, is a dice game of pure luck. Everyone starts with 3 chips, and each turn you roll a die for every chip you hold: the dice send chips to your left, to your right, or into the center pot. The last player who still has any chips wins the pot.

• How to play Spoons

  Spoons is a fast card game for a whole table. Everyone holds 4 cards and passes cards around the circle at the same time, trying to collect four of a kind. Get there and grab a spoon from the middle — there is one fewer spoon than players, and whoever is left without one takes a letter.

• How to play Thirty-One

  Thirty-One, also called Scat, is a quick card game where you hold 3 cards and try to build the highest total in a single suit. Draw one, discard one, and knock when you think you are safe. The lowest hand each round loses a life, and the last player still in wins.

• How to play Mexican Train

  Mexican Train is a dominoes game played with a double-12 set over 13 rounds. Each round you build trains out from a center double, trying to play every tile in your hand. Whatever is left in your hand counts against you, and the lowest total after the last round wins.