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Pig is a simple dice game often taught to, and played by, children.
Pig is usually played with two players, one of whom is randomly chosen to go first.
During his or her turn, each player may roll the dice as many times as he or she wishes, until a '1' appears on either die. Alternatively, a player may end his or her turn at any time (but must make at least one roll).
If a player ends his or her turn voluntarily, before a '1' appears, he or she scores points equal to the result of each roll (number of pips on dice). If he or she rolls a '1', the turn is over and no points are scored.
Often, when doubles are rolled, the value of the role is doubled, i.e. double fours would be worth 16 instead of 8 points.
If two '1's are rolled (snake eyes) the player's score is reset to zero.
Usually, Pig is played to a "target score" of 100; the first player to achieve it is the winner.
An example
Alex and Bonnie are playing Pig, Alex goes first.
Alex rolls: 4 3, 2 5 and stops. He scores 14 points, so the score is 14-0.
Bonnie rolls: 6 6 and immediately stops. She scores 24 points, so the score is 14-24.
Alex rolls: 3 2, 6 4, 5 3, 1 2. His turn ends and he scores no points.
And so on...
Skunk, a Pig Variant
Skunk is a variant of Pig played with large groups. Instead of players rolling in turn, all players begin the round standing. At any point in the round, a player may sit down, safely scoring for each roll thus-far but getting no further points. The round continues until a '1' is rolled on one die, or all players have sat down.
Skunk is played in five rounds, each of which is scored in a column. The first round score is entered in the "S-column", the next in the first "K-column", and so on. After five rounds, the highest-scoring player is the winner.
Skunk is played differently from Pig in that doubles are usually scored at face value (rather than being doubled) and that players may sit out of a round before the first roll is made.
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