Dice games
421
- players
- 2–10
- minutes
- 15
- years
- 8+
In the box
3 dice + 11 chips
Box details
- Origin
- Traditional game, with no specific designer or publisher
- Mechanics
- Dice Rolling
Where to buy it
Near you
In a shop
Within 50 km.
The basics
With three dice and a pot of eleven chips, the aim is to get rid of all your chips. During the charge, each player rolls once and the lowest takes from the pot as many chips as the best combination is worth; during the discharge, each player has up to three rolls and the best gives some of their chips to the lowest, with 421 on top at ten chips. The last player left holding chips loses the round.
Traditional rules, checked against reference sources · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
3 dice, Pot of 11 chips, 21 for a long game
- Three dice, and eleven chips in the middle of the table: this is the pot. Twenty-one for a long game.
- Two or more players, often at the bar. Nobody holds any chips at the start.
- For the first round, each player rolls one die and the lowest starts. After that, the loser of the previous round starts.
How to play
Charge: 1 roll, Discharge: 3 rolls max
- First phase, the charge (la charge): each player rolls the three dice once only. The lowest player takes from the pot as many chips as the best combination of the turn is worth.
- The loser of a turn starts the next one, during the charge as during the discharge.
- Second phase, the discharge (la décharge), once the pot is empty: each player has three rolls at most, keeping whichever dice they like. The first to play sets the number of rolls for the whole turn.
- During the discharge, the best player gives the lowest as many of their own chips as their combination is worth, never more than they hold.
- In a tie, the players involved settle it by rolling once more.
Scoring
421 is worth 10 chips, 1-1-1 is worth 7, Nénette 2-2-1, the worst
- 421: the best combination, ten chips.
- 1-1-1: seven chips.
- The fiches, two ones and another die: the value of the third die, from 1-1-6 (six chips) down to 1-1-2 (two chips).
- Three of a kind, from 6-6-6 down to 2-2-2: the value of the die, six chips for 6-6-6, two for 2-2-2.
- At equal value, the fiche comes before three of a kind: 1-1-6 beats 6-6-6, which beats 1-1-5.
- The straights 6-5-4, 5-4-3, 4-3-2 and 3-2-1: two chips, the highest first.
- All other hands: one chip. They are ranked by the highest die, then the second, then the third: 6-4-1 beats 5-5-3.
- 2-2-1, the nénette, is the weakest hand in the game: every other hand beats it.
End of the game
Out with no chips: won, Last with chips loses
- If, once the pot is empty, one player has picked up every chip, they lose the round without a discharge.
- During the discharge, a player with no chips left is out: they have won.
- The last player still holding chips, who ends up with all of them, loses the round. At the bar, they traditionally buy the next round.
House rules and pitfalls
There are no official rules: the number of chips, the value of 421…
- There are no official rules: the number of chips, the value of 421, the order between fiches and three of a kind, or the fate of the nénette change from one bar to the next. Agree on them before you roll.
- This page counts 421 at ten chips, like Wikilivres, Grand-Cercle and Le Salon; Wikipedia also mentions eight or eleven, or even every chip in the pot but one. It plays the charge with a single roll, like Wikipedia and Wikilivres; other tables allow three rolls from the charge on.
- The order between fiches and three of a kind follows French Wikipedia for France. In Belgium, any fiche beats any three of a kind; in Quebec, three of a kind come before fiches, and Le Salon puts three of a kind ahead of the fiche of the same value.
- Some tables make whoever rolls the nénette take two chips on the spot, whatever the best hand.
- Some tables make the following players use exactly as many rolls as the first, no more and no fewer.
- A game is often played over several rounds: the first player to lose two has lost.
Going further
Variants · Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Variants
Number of chips
11 chips (usual)
7 chips (short game)
House rule: one round at the bar before heading off.
21 chips (long game)
Twice as much charge, and a discharge that never ends.
choose them when you start a game: the scorer adapts
Frequently asked questions
How many rolls do you get on your turn?
Only one during the charge. During the discharge, three at most, but the first player of the turn sets the number for everyone: if they stop after one roll, the others only get one.
How are the hands ranked in 421?
421, then 1-1-1, then fiches and three of a kind in decreasing value, the fiche coming before the three of a kind of the same value (1-1-6, 6-6-6, 1-1-5, 5-5-5… down to 1-1-2 and 2-2-2), then the straights, then all other hands, and finally the nénette, 2-2-1, beaten by everything else. In Belgium, every fiche comes before every three of a kind.
What is the nénette?
2-2-1, the worst hand in the game. Whoever rolls it is almost certain to lose the turn; at some tables, they even take two chips on the spot.
Who decides the chips during the charge?
The best hand of the turn sets the number of chips, and the lowest player takes them from the pot. During the discharge, it is the best player who unloads that many of their own chips onto the lowest.
What happens in a perfect tie?
The players involved roll once more between themselves to settle it, and again if the tie remains.
Who has lost at the end?
The last player still holding chips when all the others have got rid of theirs, or the one who picked them all up during the charge. At the bar, they buy the next round.
How do you record a game in the counter?
Everyone starts at zero. Enter as positive the chips a player picks up, as negative those they give away during the discharge. The round ends when one player holds every chip: they have lost.