How do you play Bones dice game?

Bones is a push-your-luck game where players roll dice trying to reach exactly 21 — or as close as possible without going over. On your turn, roll all your dice and decide: bank your current total or roll again. If you go over 21, you bust and score nothing that round. Most variants play to a target score across multiple rounds. Exact rules vary by region, but the core is always the same: 21 target, push or stop each roll.

What are the rules for Bones?

Players alternate turns. On your turn: roll the dice, add up the total, then decide whether to roll again (accumulating more) or stop. If your running total exceeds 21, you bust and score 0 for the round. If you stop at or below 21, your total for that round is your score. Play to an agreed target — first to 100 wins, or best of 5 rounds. Specific rules about which dice to use vary; common versions use 2 dice or 5 dice.

What is the Bones dice game?

Bones is a generic name for dice games — 'bones' being slang for dice. The 2-player push-your-luck version that targets 21 is the most common casual version. It works with any dice you have. Games take 5-15 minutes. No equipment needed beyond dice, which most households have.

How to Play Bones (Dice Game) for 2 Players

Bones is what happens when you take blackjack's core mechanic — hit 21, don't bust — and play it with dice instead of cards. Faster. Louder. Still tense on the last roll.

What You Need

Two standard dice (or more, depending on variant). A way to track scores. Nothing else.

Basic Rules

Players alternate turns. On your turn:

Roll both dice. Your total is the sum showing.
Decide: roll again (adding to your total) or stop.
If your running total goes over 21, you bust — you score 0 for this round.
If you stop at 21 or below, your total stands.

After both players complete their turn, the higher score (at or below 21) wins the round. Tied totals are a push — no points awarded.

Scoring

Most casual games use one of these scoring systems:

First to 100: Each round winner scores their total. Play until someone reaches 100. Clean and motivating.
Best of rounds: Play 5 or 10 rounds, most round wins takes the match. Good for fixed-time games.
Chip game: Each player starts with 20 chips. Round winner takes one chip from the loser. First to take all chips wins.

When to Push and When to Stop

With two dice, the most common total is 7. If you've rolled 15 or above, you're in the danger zone — one roll of doubles could bust you. At 18 or 19, most experienced players stop.

The decision depends on what your opponent has. If they're sitting at 19 and you're at 14, you have to roll. If they've already busted, you can stop at anything.

Watch whether your opponent is aggressive or conservative. Some players always stop at 16. Once you know their threshold, you can exploit it — if they always stop at 16, stopping at 17 wins you most rounds without the risk of a 20-roll.

Variants

Five-dice Bones: Roll 5 dice at once. Remove any dice showing 1 (they're locked out). Roll remaining dice again, trying to accumulate points. A 1 scores 100 points, a 5 scores 50. This is closer to Farkle than the 21-target version, but it's also called "Bones" in many households.

21 with three dice: Adds more variance. You can hit 18 on a single roll (three sixes), which changes the calculus significantly. The bust zone is narrower — more total states below 21 — so more aggressive play makes sense.

Best sum under 21: Same rules, but instead of trying to reach exactly 21, you just want the highest total without busting. Simpler for kids or when you want a faster game.

Why People Like It

Games take 10 minutes. No setup. Any dice work. The push-or-stop decision is simple to understand but generates real tension — especially when you're at 18 and your opponent stopped at 20 last roll.

Related Games

The 21-target mechanic comes straight from Blackjack — if you want to play with cards instead of dice, the 2-player blackjack guide has the full setup. For more dice push-your-luck, Farkle uses a similar stop-or-continue structure with 6 dice.