Ship Captain Crew Rules
Roll a 6, a 5 and a 4 in three rolls, then score your cargo: how to play Ship, Captain and Crew.
Ship, Captain and Crew is a quick dice game for two or more players, played with five dice. On your turn you have three rolls to find a 6 (the ship), a 5 (the captain) and a 4 (the crew), in that order. Get all three and the other two dice are your cargo: their total is your score. Miss and you score nothing. The highest score at the end of the round wins. It is also known as Ship of Fools, 6-5-4, Cap’n, Bos’n, Mate, Clickety Clack and Destroyer, and it has long been a favourite bar game. This guide covers the Ship Captain Crew dice game rules, a worked turn, when to reroll your cargo, the common variations and the exact odds.
Ship Captain Crew Rules at a Glance
| Ship, Captain and Crew | |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 or more; it is often played in groups of five or more. |
| What you need | 5 ordinary six-sided dice. |
| Ship, captain, crew | 6 = ship, 5 = captain, 4 = crew. They must be banked in that order. |
| Rolls per turn | Up to three. |
| Score | The total of the two cargo dice (2 to 12). No ship, captain and crew = 0. |
| Goal | Highest score after everyone has had a turn. Ties roll again. |
| Ages | Bicycle lists it for 8 and up. |
How to Play Ship Captain and Crew
- Roll all five dice. If there is a 6, set it aside: that is your ship.
- Bank in order. A 5 (captain) only counts once you have a ship, and a 4 (crew) only once you have both a ship and a captain. They can all come in the same roll: a roll of 6, 5, 4 banks all three at once. But a 5 or 4 that turns up before the 6 has to be rolled again.
- Keep rolling the rest. You get three rolls in all. Each time, roll only the dice you have not banked.
- Count your cargo. Once the 6, 5 and 4 are banked, the other two dice are your cargo, and their total is your score.
- Reroll the cargo if you like. If you made 6-5-4 with rolls to spare, you may reroll both cargo dice to try for a higher total, but you must keep whatever the new roll shows, even if it is lower.
- No 6-5-4 after three rolls? You score zero for the round.
When everyone has had a turn, the highest score wins. If two or more players tie, each of them takes one more turn until there is a single winner. The next round is started by the player to the right of the previous starter.
The Point and the Hammer
In bars the game has its own vocabulary. The best score so far in a round is the point, and the last player to roll is the hammer, so you will hear “What’s the point and who’s the hammer?” A score of 2 is a minimum, and a 12 (two sixes in the cargo) is often called midnight.
Ship Captain Crew Variations
| Variation | How it works |
|---|---|
| One shake to beat it | If the leader scored in a single roll, the players after them also get only one roll to beat the point. |
| Antes and a pot | Everyone puts the same amount into a pot before the round; the winner takes it, and on a tie the pot can carry over to the next round. |
| Points as stakes | Instead of a pot, players settle up by a set amount per point of difference. |
| Winner starts | The winner of the last round starts the next one, instead of the player to the right of the last starter. |
| Mate instead of crew | Some groups call the 4 the “mate” and the two cargo dice the “crew”. The play is the same. |
When to Reroll Your Cargo
If you make ship, captain and crew early, you have to decide whether to keep your cargo or roll it again. Two dice average 7, so:
- With one roll left: keep a cargo of 7 or more, and reroll 6 or less.
- With two rolls left: keep 8 or more, and reroll 7 or less, because a second chance makes rolling again worth more than 7.
- When someone has already set the point: forget the average and play to beat it. If your cargo does not beat the point, roll again as long as you can.
Ship Captain Crew Odds
- Making 6-5-4: you get ship, captain and crew within your three rolls 54% of the time, and in a single roll 16% of the time. The other 46% of turns score zero.
- Your score: playing the reroll rules above, a turn scores 4.1 points on average. When you do make it, the most common scores are 8 (11% of turns) and 7 (10%); a 12 comes up 2% of the time.
- Beating the point: with best play, your chance of beating a point of 6 is 40%, 7 is 31%, 8 is 22%, 9 is 14% and 10 is 8%. A point of 12 can only be tied.
- Being the hammer helps: rolling last, you know exactly what you need. In a four-player round the last seat wins 29% of rounds, against 22% for the second seat, the worst place to sit. With six players the hammer wins 20% and the second seat 13%.
The single-turn figures are exact, worked out over every possible roll. The seat figures come from 80,000 simulated rounds for each table size, with the first player playing for the best average and everyone after them playing to beat the point.
More Dice Games
If you like Ship, Captain and Crew, try Farkle, another game of banking dice and deciding when to stop, or Liar’s Dice, the bluffing classic played from cups. For bigger groups, see Left Right Center and Bunco; for a casino dice game, craps.
Another quick dice game: Pass the Pigs, plus the classic Pig dice game.
Ship, Captain and Crew: frequently asked questions
How do you play the dice game Ship Captain Crew?
How many dice are in Ship Captain Crew?
How do you win Ship Captain Crew?
Do you have to get the ship, captain and crew in order?
Can you reroll your cargo in Ship Captain Crew?
What are the odds of getting ship, captain and crew?
What is the point and the hammer in Ship Captain Crew?
What is the highest score in Ship Captain Crew?
Fadi Hayek
Author & Casino Expert
After going through several successful experiences with several industry pioneers, Fadi Hayek has managed to excel in the world of content for online gaming by providing unique content for several projects that allowed him to obtain the necessary experience to launch his career. Last but not least, Fadi also holds several certificates, including but not limited to content marketing and iGaming.
