Round & Revel / Dice & Decisions
Seven-Step Landing
Choose a die, climb a little farther, and decide when the view is enough.
Original printable party game. Rules and examples checked; estimated timing has not had a live group playtest.
What you need
- Two ordinary six-sided dice
- One shared track labeled 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- One marker for the shared track
- One small rope token per player, such as a paper square marked ROPE
- Paper and a pencil for the score record
- Optional: a tray or box lid to keep the dice on the table
How to play
The idea
Try to reach the seventh step without going beyond it. On each roll, you see two dice but choose only one to move with. You can stop between rolls and secure points equal to your current step. Land on seven exactly and score 12. If neither die can make a legal move, the points from that turn are lost. One rope, available once in the whole game, lets you reduce a chosen die by one. This is a points-only game: no stakes, money, purchases, or prizes are required. Everyone keeps every point earned on earlier turns.
Setup and length
Put the track and two dice in the center. Give each player one rope token, unused side up. Write every player's name on the score record. Play four rounds with two to five players, or three rounds with six to eight; everyone gets exactly one turn each round. Announce the number of rounds before starting. Choose the first starting player by agreement. Play clockwise within a round. At the start of each new round, the starting-player position moves one seat clockwise, and the whole table again takes one turn. Mark completed turns so the rotating start does not accidentally skip or double somebody.
Start a turn
Place the shared marker on zero. Your turn currently has zero unsecured points. Roll both dice. Choose one die whose value, added to your current step, lands on a numbered step no higher than seven. Advance by exactly that die's value. Ignore the other die completely: you cannot add the dice together, subtract one from the other, or save an unused die for the next roll. Both dice are rolled again if you continue. From zero, every ordinary die result is legal.
Stop, continue, or land
After a legal move to steps one through six, choose either to stop or to roll both dice again. If you stop, write your current step as this turn's score and end the turn. If you continue, the dice decide which moves are available; you cannot change your mind and stop after seeing a bad roll. Landing on seven exactly immediately ends the turn for 12 points. That is 12 total, not seven plus a bonus of 12. A roll with at least one legal die must lead to a legal move, possibly using your rope; a player cannot deliberately select an overshooting die to end the turn.
What a bust means
If neither ordinary die fits, check whether you can and want to use your unused rope. If you cannot make a legal move, or choose not to spend a rope that would rescue you, your turn busts. Write zero for this turn and pass the dice. Earlier turn scores remain untouched. For example, from step six, only a result of one fits normally. A roll of four and five busts even with a rope, because reducing either die by one would still go past seven. The marker returns to zero for the next player.
The one-use rope
Once per game, after seeing both dice and before moving, you may spend your rope to reduce the value of your chosen die by exactly one. A two becomes one, a three becomes two, and so on. You cannot reduce a one to zero, increase a die, alter both dice, or apply the rope twice. The adjusted die must produce a legal forward move. Turn your rope token face down when used; it stays spent for every remaining round. You may use it to improve a legal roll or to rescue an otherwise impossible roll. You cannot use it after moving, after recording a bust, or to change a roll on somebody else's turn.
A turn with a real choice
Noor begins at zero and rolls two and five. Noor chooses two, reaching step two, then continues. A roll of three and four lets Noor choose three and reach step five. Noor continues again and rolls one and three. The one is a legal move to six; choosing it would preserve the rope, and Noor could then stop for 6 points. Alternatively, Noor can spend the unused rope to turn the three into two, land exactly on seven, and score 12 immediately. Noor chooses the landing and flips the rope token. On a later turn, a roll of three and five from step five will bust because that rope is already gone.
Score and end the game
Record one score per player per round: zero for a bust, 1–6 for a voluntary stop, or 12 for an exact landing. Do not add up the values of all intermediate steps. After every player finishes the final round, total each player's recorded scores. Highest total wins. Tied leaders share the win; remaining ropes give no tie advantage and earn no end bonus. Nobody gets an extra turn because the last player moved ahead. At two players, the same rules work with eight total turns; at eight players, the three-round game has 24 total turns.
Dice, errors, and a fair pace
If a die leaves the agreed rolling surface or rests visibly tilted, reroll only that die before making a choice. Leave the other result untouched. If the marker was moved incorrectly, restore the previous step and apply the chosen die correctly before the next roll. Once a new roll has happened, do not reconstruct old choices; use the last agreed step and continue. Announce the current step and chosen die aloud so the table can catch errors promptly. Every legal move advances by at least one, so even a long turn ends within seven rolls. Players may offer advice, but the active player makes every decision.
Host notes and gentle variants
Demonstrate one safe stop and one exact landing before playing. Remind new players that stopping on five or six can be a useful result; nobody has to keep rolling for the table's entertainment. Use a large track and spoken die values if small numbers are hard to see. For a shorter game, use three rounds at every player count. For an introductory game with children or first-time dice players, reset each person's rope at the start of every turn; this changes the balance, so announce it before play and apply it equally. In the standard game, the rope is strictly once per player for the entire game.
Printable play cards
Print single-sided and cut on the borders. Read the setup before sorting the cards; some games use separate card types or fewer copies for smaller groups.
Seven-Step Track
START 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → LANDING 7 Stop on steps 1–6: score that step. Land exactly on 7: score 12 and end the turn. Neither die fits and no rope rescue is used: score 0 for this turn.
Rope — Copy Once Per Player
UNUSED ROPE After rolling, reduce one chosen die by exactly 1, then make a legal forward move. A 1 cannot become 0. Turn this token face down after use. Standard rule: once in the entire game.
Turn Reminder
1. Start on zero. 2. Roll both dice; choose one legal value and move. 3. Exact seven scores 12 immediately. 4. Otherwise stop for your step's points, or roll again. 5. No legal move? Use an available rope if it can help, or bust for zero. 6. Record only this turn's final result. Earlier scores are safe.
Score Record
Game length: ___ rounds. Columns: Player | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 if used | Total ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ ________ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ Round 1 starts with: ________. Move the starting position one seat clockwise each round.
Round & Revel. Edition 1 / October 2026. No purchases, accounts or specialist equipment beyond the listed materials are required.