Dice games
Zanzibar
- players
- 2–8
- minutes
- 15
- years
- 10+
In the box
3 dice · Tokens
Box details
- Origin
- Traditional game, with no specific designer or publisher
- Mechanics
- Dice RollingRe-rolling and LockingPush Your Luck
Where to buy it
Near you
In a shop
Within 50 km.
The basics
With three dice, each player gets twenty chips, fifteen with two players, and the aim is to get rid of them before the others. The first player rolls up to three times, keeping the dice they like, and their number of rolls becomes the limit for the others; at the end of the turn, the weakest hand receives chips from each player, one to four depending on the best hand, with the zanzibar (4-5-6) on top. The first player with no chips left wins the game.
Traditional rules, checked against reference sources · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
3 dice, 20 chips each, 15 with 2 players
- Three dice and some chips, two or more players.
- Everyone gets twenty chips; only fifteen in a two-player game.
How to play
Up to 3 rolls, First player sets limit
- The first player rolls up to three times, keeping whichever dice they like between rolls. They may stop after the first or second roll.
- The number of rolls they used becomes a ceiling: the following players may use as many or fewer, never more.
- Everyone then takes a turn trying to do better. The winner of the turn rolls first in the next one.
Scoring
4-5-6: the zanzibar, 1 is 100, 6 is 60, Weakest gets 1 to 4
- 4-5-6, the zanzibar, is the best hand.
- Next come three of a kind, which both rules followed here rank from 1-1-1, the highest, down to 6-6-6.
- Then 1-2-3, above every hand counted on points.
- All other hands are counted on points: a 1 is worth 100, a 6 is worth 60, 2, 3, 4 and 5 their face value. Add up the three dice: 1-6-5 makes 165, 2-2-6 makes 64.
- At the end of the turn, the player with the weakest hand receives chips from each of the others: four if the best hand of the turn is a zanzibar, three if it is three of a kind, two if it is 1-2-3, one if it is a points total.
End of the game
First with no chips wins
- The first player with no chips left wins the game.
House rules and pitfalls
There are no official rules, and the name covers several bar games.
- There are no official rules, and the name covers several bar games. In Quebec, “zanzibar” means 421; in France, zanzi and zanzibar also name games of three of a kind or of plain points totals, with the ace counting 10 or 100 depending on the table. This page follows the rule shared by dice-play and Dice Game Depot.
- Variants found: counting the 1 and the 6 at their plain value, or having each player pay according to their own hand rather than the best hand of the turn.
- The rules followed here say nothing about ties for the weakest hand. Agree on it before you start, for instance by having the tied players roll once more.
- The first player has an interest in stopping early with a good hand: it deprives the others of rolls.
Going further
Variants · Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Variants
Starting chips
20 chips each
15 chips each (two players)
choose them when you start a game: the scorer adapts
Frequently asked questions
Where does 1-2-3 rank in Zanzibar?
Just below three of a kind: it is the third family of hands, above every hand counted on points. The full ranking: 4-5-6, then three of a kind, then 1-2-3, then the other hands by their points total.