Dice

Different types of dice

Dice are objects used in games when something random needs to be done, such as moving a game piece a random number of places on a board. Most dice are cubes that have the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on the faces. Dice are sometimes made in other polyhedral shapes than cubes, but the six-sided die (die is the singular of "dice") is the most common. A die is usually rolled by the player’s hand. When adding together opposite sides of typical cubical dice, the sum is always 7.

Some games are played with two or more dice and some use only one. Some games that use dice are Monopoly, Yahtzee, Risk, and many more.

Weights can be put inside a die to make it only land on a certain number once it is rolled. This is sometimes used as a way of cheating.

Types of dice

Dice with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20 sides

There are many different types of dice. Some dice have different numbers of sides. These are called polyhedral dice. They are used in some games like Dungeons & Dragons.

Dice with letters on them, used in Boggle

Some dice do not have numbers on them at all. Instead, they have letters, pictures, or other symbols on them. Some games use these when they need something random that is not a number. For example, some word games use dice with letters to give the players random letters they have to use in the game.

Dice Media

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  Four traditional dice showing all six different sides.

• Dice of different sizes being thrown in slow motion.

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  Composite image of all sides of a Roman die, found in Leicestershire, England

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  Knucklebones die, made of soapstone

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  Roman wall painting showing two dice-players, Pompeii, 1st century

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  Twenty-sided serpentinite die from Ptolemaic Egypt

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  A collection of historical dice from various regions of Asia

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  Chirality of dice. Faces may be placed counterclockwise (top) or clockwise.

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  Typical facets showing the more compact pip arrangement of an Asian-style die (top) vs. a Western-style die (bottom)

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  Western, Asian, and casino dice

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