Easy Dice Game to Make & Play This Summer! (DIY Shut the Box Game)
It’s only July and I’ve already declared 2024 the summer of picnics! Quite frankly, it is too expensive to go out and do anything these days. So a lot of our sunny weekends so far this year have been spent at the local park.
I’m a huge fan of what I call a “purse game” — a small game, with not a lot of pieces, that can easily travel with you in your purse for any spur of the moment friendly competition. So I thought it would be a fun, creative project to make my own game to bring with me to picnics and the beach this summer.
If you are familiar with the classic dice game Shut the Box, this is exactly that, just without the titular “box”. I had a bunch of these unfinished wood discs in my craft supplies from a few past projects, and figured they would work just as well in this number-based dice game. Find out how I decorate them and how you play the game below!
And if you’re looking for other DIY games to make & play this summer, be sure to check out How To Make Your Own Travel Boggle Game. Or if you are hosting a game night, this Dry Erase Game Night Scoreboard (& printable) might come in handy!
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EASY DICE GAME TO MAKE & PLAY THIS SUMMER! (DIY SHUT THE BOX GAME)
Supplies:
Unfinished round wood coins (1.5 inch)
Acrylic paint
Paint brushes
Number stickers (I used a pack I already had from the craft store, but you just need them to be less than 1” in size — this pack would probably work)
Dice (2 six sided square dice are needed to play the game)
STEP 1: Begin by painting your wood discs with whatever patterns and designs you want. Keep in mind you’re going to be adding a number sticker to the middle of each, so try to keep your background details simple or towards the edges.
I found it helpful to use a pencil to lightly draw any designs like stripes before I started painting.
I mixed up a color palette of around 6-8 colors of acrylic paints before I started painting and I tried to repurpose those colors in different patterns on different discs so that the game pieces all looked cohesive. Does anyone else have a really hard time thinking of any patterns besides stripes and polka dots? Lol.
You will need 9 discs total for this game. I ended up doing about 2-3 coats of paint on each disc. And you only need to paint one side, you can leave the other blank.
STEP 2: Next, add your number stickers. You could just as easily paint your own numbers on the discs, but I found that I already had these white letter/number stickers that fit perfectly in the center of my wood discs. Number them 1-9.
STEP 3: And finally, you will want to seal your discs to protect your painted design. Give the discs about 2 coats of clear gloss spray paint. I also sprayed the wooden back of these just so they were glossy on both sides.
Allow the spray paint to dry overnight.
And now your dice game is ready to play!
Set out your 9 discs in a row, 1-9.
Roll two 6-sided dice. Add up the total of the two dice.
You will then turn over whatever discs you want that add up to that total. So, for example, if a 1 and 5 is rolled, that equals 6. You could simply turn over the 6 disc or you could turn over the 1 and the 5 discs. Or the 2 and the 4 discs.
Then you roll again and repeat. Your goal is to turn over all of the discs in order to fully “shut the box”, so you want to be as strategic as possible when picking which discs to turn over.
If discs 7, 8, and 9 are completely turned over, you do get the option to only roll one die instead of the two.
You repeat this process until there are no disc options available to turn over. If at that point there are remaining discs open, you count up the total and that is your score for the round.
Then your opponent will get a chance to play a round.
If anyone successfully turns over all 9 discs, they automatically win the game. Otherwise, whichever player has the lowest score wins.
I love how simple this game is, and how quick the rounds go by! It is the perfect game to play by the pool this summer. And I love it even more that you can make it as colorful and aesthetic as you want! If you need any betting ideas, I’d recommend loser has to make the next round of Aperol Spritzes :)
Enjoy! xo Rachael
