Schocken is the name of the game

Get to know a unique piece of Dortmund’s pub culture

Equipment: Each player needs a dice cup with three dice. In the middle is the Schock set, consisting of 13 so-called lids and one disc of a different colour, the “half-time”.

At the beginning, one player is chosen to start. This player tries to achieve the highest possible combination of dice with a maximum of three throws. If he has such a good result after just one or two throws that he believes he will not lose, he can end the round early. All subsequent players may then only roll the number of throws specified by the first player in the round. After each throw, the player can discard individual dice and continue throwing with fewer dice. These discarded dice are left face up and can be seen by all players. Discarded dice may not be rolled again. The third throw remains face down so that the overall result is not visible to all players.

Important: Two 6s may be converted to a 1, three 6s to two 1s. However, this is only possible if it is not the last roll, as the last roll always remains hidden.

The best throw is the “Schock-Out”: three 1s. This is followed in descending order by the “Schock throws”, consisting of two 1s and the value of the third dice.

A “General” or “Three of a kind” consists of three equal numbers and is even higher in value than a “Schock Two”.

This is followed by the “Straight”, whereby a “Straight” from 4 to 6 is better than a “Straight” from 1 to 3.

If a player has no “Schock”, no “Three of a kind” or no “Straight”, they have a simple number in which the dice are arranged in descending order of value. A throw with the numbers 1, 5 and 3 would therefore be a 531.

At the end of each round, the player with the worst result receives penalty lids. How many depends on the best result. If a “Schock Five” is thrown, the player with the worst result receives five lids.

On the table, you also have a display showing the ranking of possible throws and how many lids there are for each.

If two players have the same combination of dice, the player who threw them first wins.

The next round always begins with the player who had the worst result in the previous round.

When all 13 penalty lids from the “Schock set” have been distributed, only the players who have penalty lids in front of them play against each other. Now the lids are redistributed from the player with the highest roll to the player with the lowest roll.

If someone has all 13 penalty lids, they have lost the first half and receive the half-time lid. The game starts again and the second half is played according to the same rules.

Note: In the event of a “Schock out”, the “half-time” is automatically over and the player with the worst throw of the round loses the half-time.

The loser of the first half then plays the loser of the second half in the final according to the same rules.

And the loser of the final pays for the next round of drinks for all participating players.