The goal sounds unappetizing: collect as many worms as you can. Those worms sit on sixteen tiles worth 21 through 36. You claim a tile by rolling enough points with eight dice, including at least one worm. Push your luck too far and your turn goes bust, costing you a tile instead. Below you'll find the complete rules, the tile table, and tips to win more often.
On this page
What do you need?
- Eight dice with the pips 1 through 5 and a worm in place of the 6. The worm is worth 5 points.
- Sixteen tiles ("portions") worth 21 through 36. Each tile shows one to four worms: the higher the value, the more worms.
- 2 to 7 players, ages 8 and up. A game takes 20 to 30 minutes.
No Pickomino dice on hand? The game works fine with regular dice: agree that the 6 is the worm. With the free online dice roller you can roll all eight at once. The Pickomino preset sets the table to eight dice, draws a worm on the 6, and adds up the dice you set aside as you go. In free play you set the count yourself with the pencil button next to ROLL.
The goal: collecting worms
You don't win with points but with worms. Every tile you capture goes on top of your own stack, and at the end you add up the worms on all your tiles. The breakdown:
| Tile value | Number of worms |
|---|---|
| 21 to 24 | 1 worm |
| 25 to 28 | 2 worms |
| 29 to 32 | 3 worms |
| 33 to 36 | 4 worms |
A high tile is therefore worth up to four times as much as a low one, but it's also much harder to get.
How a turn works
- Roll all eight dice.
- Pick one symbol. Choose a pip value (or the worm) that appears in your roll and set aside all dice showing that symbol. You may pick each symbol only once per turn: if you already have threes set aside, you may not set aside any more threes later in the same turn.
- Roll on or stop. Roll the remaining dice again and pick another (new) symbol, or stop if you have enough points. You may only stop if you have at least one worm set aside and your total is high enough for a tile.
For your total, add up all the dice you've set aside, with each worm counting as 5 points. Fours, fours, and more fours may sound attractive, but without a worm to go with them your whole turn is worthless.
Taking a tile or stealing one
When you stop rolling, you take a tile. There are two ways:
- From the middle: take the face-up tile that is exactly equal to your total. If it's no longer there, take the highest face-up tile below your total. Roll 28 while the 28 is already gone, for example, and you may take the 27 or lower (the highest still face up).
- From a fellow player: if your total is exactly equal to the value of the tile lying on top of another player's stack, you may steal that tile. Only the top tile counts, and only on an exactly equal total. It's the meanest move in the game, and the most fun.
You place the captured tile on top of your own stack. That instantly makes it your vulnerable tile: fellow players can steal it right back, and if your turn goes bust, you lose it.
When your turn goes bust
Your turn goes bust in three cases:
- You roll only symbols you already have set aside (you can't pick a new symbol);
- You stop or get stuck without a worm among your set-aside dice;
- Your total is lower than the lowest available tile and there's nowhere to steal one either.
The penalty is double: you return the top tile of your own stack to the middle, and the highest face-up tile in the middle is flipped over and out of the game (unless that happens to be the very tile you just returned). This way the game naturally keeps getting shorter.
End of the game and winning
The game ends as soon as there are no face-up tiles left in the middle. Everyone counts the worms (not the tile values!) on their captured tiles. The player with the most worms wins; in a tie, whoever has the highest tile wins.
Variants: Junior and Extra
- Pickomino Junior: a simplified version for young children (ages 4 and up), with no adding. You hunt for symbols instead of points. You'll find more play ideas for young children among the dice games for kids.
- Pickomino Extra: an expansion with extra tiles and special rules, for anyone who knows the base game inside out.
- House rule "soft landing": some groups play that a busted turn only costs you your tile and no tile is flipped over. The game then lasts longer and is more forgiving.
Tips & strategy
- Grab your worm in time. Worms and fives are both worth 5 points, but without a worm it's all for nothing. If an early roll shows two or three worms, set them aside. Waiting for "even more worms" usually ends badly.
- Stealing beats taking. Stealing a tile from a fellow player is a double win: you get stronger and your biggest rival gets weaker. Remember whose stack has which tile on top and steer your total toward it.
- Do the math on what's left. The fewer dice you have left, the smaller the chance of a new usable symbol. Rolling on with two dice left for a tile that barely improves your position is usually a bad trade. You'll get a better feel for those odds on the page about dice probability.
- A low tile is still a tile. Especially at the end of the game, as the middle empties out, a sure 21 often beats a gamble on 30-plus.
Playing with a full table? The free Dice Together Android app casts the roll to your TV over Chromecast, so all eight dice are big enough for everyone to read at once. That helps in a game where the whole table is watching to see whether you dare roll on.
For something different, browse the complete overview of dice games, or play Farkle (10,000), another game where rolling on too long will cost you dearly.
Frequently asked questions about Pickomino
How many dice do you need for Pickomino?
Eight special dice with the pips 1 through 5 and a worm in place of the 6. If you roll with regular dice or with the online dice roller, agree that the 6 counts as the worm.
How many points is a worm worth?
A worm counts as 5 points, the same as the 5. But you need at least one worm set aside before you may take a tile. Stopping without a worm means a busted turn.
Can you take tiles from another player in Pickomino?
Yes. If your final total is exactly equal to the value of the top tile on another player's stack, you may steal that tile. This only applies to the top tile and only when your total matches exactly.
What age is Pickomino suitable for?
The publisher recommends ages 8 and up, because you need to add up quickly to around 40. For younger children there is Pickomino Junior, a simplified version without the arithmetic.