How To Play Rolling Thunder | Dice Game

Looking for a quick, easy-to-learn dice game that’s perfect for families, classrooms, or game night with friends?

Rolling Thunder is a fun and fast-paced game of storm clouds, lucky rolls, and the occasional lightning strike!

In this game, each player builds a storm cloud over their stick-figure self. If your cloud fills and you fail to roll a 1… lightning strikes - and you’re out!

What You’ll Need

Each scorecard includes a space to draw a stick figure, the player’s name, and a storm cloud above them that fills up throughout the game.

Rolling Thunder Game

Objective

Be the last player standing.

On your turn, you’ll roll the dice and try to get at least one 1. If you don’t, you earn a penalty - a piece of your storm cloud gets filled in.

Once your cloud is complete, any roll without a 1 means lightning strikes and you’re out of the game.

Setup

To begin, each player needs a scorecard. You can use our printable version or simply draw a stick figure for each player on paper with space above for a six-part cloud.

Then, have each player roll a single die. The player with the lowest roll goes first.

How to Play

  • On the first turn, roll all 6 dice.

  • Any dice that show a 1 are saved - set them aside in your personal pile.

  • All remaining dice (not 1s) are passed to the next player.

Penalties

If you roll no 1s, that’s a penalty - trace one of the six segments of your cloud on your scorecard. Then, pass the same number of dice to the next player.

Rolling with Saved Dice

When your next turn comes around, roll both:

  • The dice passed to you

  • Any 1s you’ve saved from previous turns

This gives you more dice to work with - but you still need to roll at least one 1 to avoid a penalty.

Lightning Strikes!

Once you’ve traced all six parts of your cloud, you’re in danger. From that point on:

  • If you roll a 1 → you’re safe

  • If you don’t roll a 1 → lightning strikes and you’re eliminated from the game

Feel free to draw a dramatic lightning bolt hitting your stick figure for added fun!

Special Rule: Full Reset

If every die currently in play rolls a 1 - no matter how many dice are in circulation - the dice reset.

All six dice return to the game, and the next player starts fresh with a full six-dice roll.

This gives everyone a clean slate and can shift the momentum!

Winning the Game

The last player remaining after all others have been struck by lightning is the winner!

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