This fun lucky dice game is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! Everyone starts with a coin and tries to avoid ending up with the red colored coin as the dice send the coins in circles around the group! A super fun St. Patrick’s Day game for all ages!
With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to create a few new games this year that are good for some St. Patrick’s Day fun without a lot of prep – because I know people have a lot going on, I mean with processing that it’s March again and all.
I’ve shared lots of different St. Patrick’s Day games in the past but none quite like this one. I’ve shared leprechaun hunts, a St. Patrick’s Day scavenger hunt, and even St. Patrick’s Day charades.
This game is fun because it’s all about luck, kind of like with my dice gift exchange game! It’s like a combo of that game added with musical chairs plus some bonus fun in between!
And I hope you love it as much as I do!
Supplies
Like I mentioned above, I wanted this game to be one that takes very little prep. All you’ll need are:
- Printable lucky dice cards – get them at the bottom of this post or in my shop here
- One six-sided die – it’d be really fun if you used a green one for St. Patrick’s Day but any six sided die works.
- Gold coins + coins in two other colors (this plastic coin pack would be perfect for this)
- Small prizes (optional – see game explanation below) like green candies, trinkets, cash, etc.
- Bag – a non-transparent bag of some sort where you can put coins to start the game
Coin Breakdown
You’ll need three different colored coins for this game. The number of coins you’ll need of each color depends on the number of people playing.
- Red coins (or whatever color you choose to be unlucky) – one coin per five people playing. So if you have five people playing, you’ll have one coin, if you have seven people playing you’ll still only have one coin, you’d add an extra coin when you get to ten people.
- Green coins (or whatever color you choose to be lucky) – one coin period, also this is optional but a fun addition to the game.
- Gold coins – you’ll need one coin total (of all colors) for each person playing the game. The number of gold coins should be equal to the number of people playing MINUS the number of red and green coins you have.
A few examples:
- 6 players – 1 red coin, 1 green coin, 4 gold coins
- 10 players – 2 red coins, 1 green coin, 7 gold coins
- 19 players – 3 red coins, 1 green coin, 15 gold coins
How to Play Lucky Dice
This game is super simple, which is why I love it most. It also means that it’s good for real any age, as long as kids are old enough to not get upset when they get out of the game.
If they are, I recommend you play this chase the rainbow dice game instead where you can get back in even after you’re out. Not everyone wins, but you don’t ever get “out.”
Start by having everyone sit in a circle. Then pass around the bag of coins and have everyone pick one out – it really doesn’t matter who starts with what but this will keep people from complaining they got out because fo what coin they started with.
The youngest person starts the first round (and only the first round). Have them roll the die and coins move based on what they roll.
- Switch THEIR coin with the person on their right.
- Switch THEIR coin with the person on their left.
- Everyone passes their coin to the right.
- Everyone passes their coin to the left.
- Switch THEIR coin with anyone they want.
- Choose two people to switch their coins (this can help get a black coin away from you or get a green coin closest to you).
Pass the die to the next person in the circle going clockwise and they roll and do the same thing. Keep going around the circle until everyone has had a chance to roll once. This is the end of the round.
At the end of the round
At the end of every round (everyone in the circle gets a chance to roll the die once), do the following:
- The person with the red (or unlucky color) coin is out of the game. Put the red coin back in the bag.
- The person with the green (or lucky color) coin wins a small prize of some sort. Put the green coin back in the bag.
- One gold coin gets removed (like musical chairs) and all other coins go back in the bag.
Play the next round the exact same way, handing out coins, rolling, and eliminating players.
How to Win
Once you get down to only three players left, replace the green coin with a gold coin so you have just gold and red left.
Play the final two rounds and whoever ends up with the gold coin last wins. Have a fun prize of some sort for the winner!
Green Coin Prize Ideas
One of the reasons I love this game is because it has both an unlucky coin and a lucky coin. You can skip this prize coin if you want, but I think it adds a really fun element to the game!
Here are a few inexpensive prizes that would work well for this lucky coin!
- Skittle packs
- Rainbow pens/pencils
- Rainbow suckers
- Dollar bills
- Andes mints
- Chocolate gold coin
- St. Patrick’s Day trinkets
- St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes
- Rainbow donuts
- Small boxes of Lucky Charms
- Lucky Charm hot chocolate bombs
They don’t have to be pricey, just St. Patrick’s Day themed and fun little bonuses for being the lucky winner!
I also recommend having a larger prize for the overall winner of the group! So instead of Fun Size Skittles, maybe a large size bag of Skittles or five dollars or a little pot of gold coins. Or a gift card. Totally up to you!
Expert Tips
Make the game longer with a small group by giving someone a point when they get the red coin rather than getting out of the game. When you get three points, you’re out and remove a coin to make the group smaller.
Laminate the game cards so you can use them over and over again! You could also blow up one of the cards large and hang it on a wall for everyone to see!
Use large dice like these DIY dice that people can roll and everyone will be able to see what they rolled quickly.
Game FAQs
This game is as simple as rolling a dice and passing coins. As long as people are okay with getting out of a game, they’re old enough. We’ve even played with teams where my toddler sits on my lap and rolls for me!
Yes, you can. If you play without it, just add in one more gold coin so you still have one coin per person. Or if you don’t want to use prizes but still want to do the lucky coin, you could give that person a “get out of jail free pass” of sorts where they don’t get eliminated if they get the unlucky coin in say the next 2-3 rounds.
Download the game at the bottom of this post (pink form!) or get a copy in my shop here.
Yes! You can find all of them on my dice games page! There are games for every holiday and every occasion – we really like dice!
More St. Patrick’s Day Ideas
- St. Patrick’s Day games for adults
- St. Patrick’s Day activities
- Free St. Patrick’s Day printables
- St. Patrick’s Day Bingo
- Printable rainbow game
- Printable pot of gold game
Looking for more PRINTABLE GAMES?
Download the Lucky Dice Game
Enter your first name and email address in the form below to get the printable PDF. You will receive a link to download the PDF to your email within minutes.
If you’d rather not provide your email, you can get a copy in my shop here.
If you do not see the form, click here to get to it.
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The file will include:
- Instructions
- Half-sheet (two to a page) game cards
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