How do you play Zombie Dice?

On your turn, draw 3 dice from the cup and roll them. Collect brains (score), set aside shotgun blasts (danger), and reroll footprints (runners). Keep rolling or bank your brains. 3 shotgun blasts ends your turn with 0 points for that round.

How do you win Zombie Dice?

First player to reach 13 brains wins. After someone hits 13, all other players get one final turn to beat or tie that score.

What do the different colored dice mean in Zombie Dice?

Green dice are easiest (more brain faces). Yellow are medium. Red are hardest (more shotgun blast faces). The 13-die cup contains: 6 green, 4 yellow, 3 red.

What happens if you roll 3 shotgun blasts?

Your turn ends immediately and you score 0 brains for that round — even brains you collected earlier in the turn are lost. Banked brains from previous rounds are safe.

Can you choose which dice to reroll in Zombie Dice?

No — you must reroll all footprint dice. You cannot choose to stop rolling a runner; all feet must be rerolled. You may choose to stop your turn and bank before rolling, though.

How many dice are in Zombie Dice?

The base game has 13 dice: 6 green, 4 yellow, 3 red. Each color has different ratios of brains, blasts, and footprints on their faces.

Zombie Dice Rules, How to Play Zombie Dice

You are a zombie. Roll dice to eat brains, but too many shotgun blasts and your turn is over. First to 13 brains wins.

1 What Is Zombie Dice?

Zombie Dice is a fast press-your-luck dice game for 2–8 players by Steve Jackson Games, playable in 15–20 minutes. You play as a zombie trying to eat as many brains as possible without getting shot. Roll dice to collect brains, avoid shotgun blasts, and chase down runners, but push your luck too far and you go home empty-handed.

Zombie Dice was designed by Steve Jackson and released in 2010. It won the Origins Award for Best Family, Party or Children's Game and became one of the best-selling hobby dice games of all time.

2 Setup

Put all 13 dice in the cup and shake.
Choose a starting player (most zombie-like behavior wins this honor).
Keep score on paper or use tokens. First to 13 brains wins.

3 How to Play Zombie Dice

Draw 3 dice randomly from the cup. You cannot choose colors, it's random.
Roll all 3 dice.
Sort the results:
- 🧠 Brain → set aside (you scored this brain)
- 💥 Shotgun Blast → set aside (danger, 3 blasts ends your turn)
- 👣 Footprints (Runner) → set aside to reroll later
Choose: bank your brains or keep rolling.
- If you stop → add your brains to your total score and pass the cup.
- If you keep rolling → take all footprint dice plus draw new dice from the cup to total 3, then roll again.
If you ever accumulate 3 shotgun blasts, your turn ends immediately, you score 0 brains this round.

4 The Dice, Colors and Face Distributions

Color	Count in Cup	Brains	Blasts	Runners	Difficulty
🟢 Green	6	3 faces	1 face	2 faces	Easy, mostly brains
🟡 Yellow	4	2 faces	2 faces	2 faces	Medium, balanced
🔴 Red	3	1 face	3 faces	2 faces	Hard, mostly blasts

The random draw means you never know which colors you'll get. Drawing multiple red dice early is the "push your luck" trap, statistically dangerous, but veterans keep rolling anyway.

5 Scoring

Each brain you collect and bank = 1 point. First player to reach 13 brains triggers the end game. After the trigger, every other player gets one more turn to beat or tie that score. Highest total wins.

6 Zombie Dice Strategy

Bank early when red dice are in play. If you've drawn 2+ red dice and only have 1 blast, the expected value on the next roll skews negative fast. Bank the brains you have.
Keep rolling when green dice are rerolling. Runners carry over to your next roll, if your runners are green, you're in a favorable position to push on.
Know the blast math. You need 3 blasts to bust. With 2 blasts accumulated, every red die has a 3/6 = 50% chance of ending your turn. Be conservative.
Don't chase leaders blindly. If someone has 12 brains and you have 6, you need a big turn, but busting helps nobody. Time your aggression for the final round.

7 Zombie Dice Expansions

Zombie Dice 2, Double Feature: Adds a Hunk die (hard target) and a Hottie die (rescues players from blasts) plus a Santa Claus die.
Zombie Dice 3, School Bus: A large bus die that can give you bonus brains or run over zombies (other players lose brains).
Zombie Dice Deluxe: Includes base game plus expansions in a larger tin.

8 Frequently Asked Questions

How do you play Zombie Dice?: On your turn, draw 3 dice from the cup and roll them. Collect brains (score), set aside shotgun blasts (danger), and reroll footprints (runners). Keep rolling or bank your brains. 3 shotgun blasts ends your turn with 0 points for that round.
How do you win Zombie Dice?: First player to reach 13 brains wins. After someone hits 13, all other players get one final turn to beat or tie that score.
What do the different colored dice mean in Zombie Dice?: Green dice are easiest (more brain faces). Yellow are medium. Red are hardest (more shotgun blast faces). The 13-die cup contains: 6 green, 4 yellow, 3 red.
What happens if you roll 3 shotgun blasts?: Your turn ends immediately and you score 0 brains for that round, even brains you collected earlier in the turn are lost. Banked brains from previous rounds are safe.
Can you choose which dice to reroll in Zombie Dice?: No, you must reroll all footprint dice. You cannot choose to stop rolling a runner; all feet must be rerolled. You may choose to stop your turn and bank before rolling, though.
How many dice are in Zombie Dice?: The base game has 13 dice: 6 green, 4 yellow, 3 red. Each color has different ratios of brains, blasts, and footprints on their faces.

Zombie Dice