The Game That Actually Gets Everyone Off Their Phones at Dinner

We had a stretch a few months ago where family game nights kept falling apart. Someone thought the rules were unfair, someone had played the game too many times, someone could not focus long enough to follow a strategy. We needed something simple that did not require reading, did not require strategy, and moved fast enough to keep everyone at the table.

TENZI was the answer to all of that.

Each player gets ten dice. When someone says go, everyone rolls at the same time, picks a number they want to match, sets aside any dice showing that number, and keeps rolling the rest as fast as possible. The first person to get all ten dice showing the same number yells TENZI and wins. That is the entire game. You can teach it in 30 seconds.

What you cannot fully explain in advance is how chaotic and funny it gets. Everyone is rolling and grabbing dice at the same time, there is no waiting for turns, and rounds take anywhere from 15 seconds to two minutes depending on your luck. My six-year-old has beaten every adult in the house, which has been excellent for her confidence and humbling for everyone else.

The Party Pack comes with six sets of ten dice in different colors, plus a storage case. Six players can go at once, or you can break into teams. There is a 77 Ways to Play card set you can add that gives you different variations if you want more structure. We have not used it much because the base game is already enough fun, but it is a nice option to have.

Clean up is fast because all the dice go into the case by color. It travels well, it goes to restaurants without anyone thinking twice, and it works at the beach or on a picnic table. We have taken ours to four different places and it has gotten played every time.

At $20 for six sets, this is a case where the price makes the game even easier to recommend. There are few games at this price point that actually work with a mixed age group, move fast enough to hold attention, and get genuinely loud. This one does all three.

→ Check it out on Amazon