Ten Thousand

By THLaird Colyne Stewart

[Since writing this article I have discovered that Ten Thousand is not a period game. It has a fake history, much like Kube and Tablero de Jesus.]

To date this has been the most popular game when I’ve held dicing classes. I know personally it has helped me pass the time on many occasions, and I carry dice in my pouch at all times should the need arise.

The oldest references to this game seem to be to a French version, Dix Mille. Called Auf die 5000 in Germany.

This game has dozens of names and variations (including Sixes, named for the number of dice used to play), including several commercial versions. Farkle is the best known modern version.

The game is played to 10000 points. A player must roll 1000 points on one turn before they can start counting points. Each turn after they have scored 1000 points they need to score at least 400 to count points for that turn. You want to roll as many 1's or 5's as possible, or at least three of a kind. A 1 is worth 100 points, a 5 is worth fifty, three of a kind is worth 100 x the number (so three sixes is 600), getting three or more 1's is worth 1000.

So player one rolls the dice. S/he then sets aside any triples or better. If they don't have any they can set aside as many 1's or 5's as they want. Any dice left over are re-rolled. If you manage to set aside all your dice you can re-roll all six and keep adding the points. If you ever make a roll where you cannot set aside a 1, 5 or triple or better, your turn is over and you score no points that turn. Play then proceeds to the next player. You can stop rolling at any time, but must have either 1,000 or 400 (depending) to score your points for that turn.

Sources

The Games Forum

hist-games, various posts