Monday, October 19, 2009

A Load of Crappy (Malappy)

I come from a family of game-players. It is clearly one heck of a dominant gene- we don't all have the same physical build, or taste in music, or even the same sense of humor, but across the board, everyone in my family loves to play games. We play them in our socks, we'd play with with a fox. At night or during the day -- we play, we play, we play!

And one of the games we play the most is a dice game called Crappy Malappy. It was taught to us by a friend of my brother's years ago, and we have played it ever since, though we don't always agree on the exact rules. But in the years since, I have never encountered another person who knows how to play, or who had even heard of it. So why not share this wonderful game with the world? Or at least with the small part of the world who count themselves among my readers. As a bonus, hopefully this will put to rest any rule disputes that might arise among my family. You know, now that it's been published on the Internet. I know it looks complicated, but try playing, and you'll pick it up quickly.

How to Play Crappy Malappy

You will need:
6 dice
paper and a pen for keeping score

The object of the game is to score 8000 points (although you can play to 5000 for a shorter game, or 10,000 for a longer one). Players take turns rolling six dice to score points. There is no limit to the number of players in a game. To determine the order of play, each player rolls one die- the highest roller gets to go last each round (which is an advantage because once one player reaches the goal score, the remaining players in the round get a last chance to top it).

How to Score:
Roll all 6 dice.

If you roll:
1,2,3,4,5,6 - you immediately get 2,500 pts.
Three pairs (e.g. 2,2,4,4, 5,5) - you immediately get 750 pts.
Three of a kind (e.g. 4,4,4,2,3,6) you get the numeral x 100 pts. (the example would be 400 pts, Three 3's would be 300, etc. Three 1's gives you 1000 pts.)

Barring those situations, a 1 gives you 100 pts, and a 5 gives you 50 pts. No other numbers give you any points.

You must gain at least 250 pts in order to stop rolling on your turn. For example, if you roll once and get (1,2,2,3,4,4) you have scored 100 pts. You must remove the 1 from the mix and continue rolling until you score at least 150 more pts. If on your second roll, you roll (2,3,4,5,5), you have the choice to remove both 5's (for 2 x 50 pts) or just one of them, although you must remove at least one die each roll.

Now, here's the catch: If, on your third roll (having opted to remove both 5's), you roll (2,4,4) you have scored no points on a roll. This is called getting a "crappy", and you automatically lose all of the points you have scored on that turn (In this case, 200 pts). If you get 7 crappys, you lose 1000 pts. However, if on your first roll of any turn you roll a crappy with all six dice (e.g. 2,2,3,4,4,6), that is called getting a "crappy malappy". If you get two crappy malappys in any game, you automatically win, and no one gets a chance to rebut.

Alternatively, let's go back to your third roll (you have already rolled a 1,5,5 for a total of 200 pts.) Let's say instead of getting a crappy, you roll (4,4,4), for 400 pts. You have scored a total of 600 pts. and you get all the dice back. Now you must roll a minimum of 250 pts again, in order to keep your points.

Have a crappy day!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's a game on facebook called Farkle! that sounds like this, and it's really fun!! LOVE your blog!

Lily said...

Just checked it out, and you're right- it's almost exactly the same game! So happy I don't have to have my relatives around in order to play anymore.

randi said...

ha! i basically couldn't follow all those numbers in your rules (NOT a game player. at all.), but boy oh boy is that name cracking my shit up. see you monday!

Andy said...

One additional rule: if, after rolling three of a kind (i.e. 4,4,4,3,6, which is equal to 400 pts), you roll another 4 with the remaining two dice, that 4 is equal to an additional 400 pts. Another example: if you were to roll 1,1,1,2,3, equaling 1,000 points, each additional 1 rolled with the remaining two dice is worth 1,000 pts, as opposed its usual 100 point value.

Lily said...

Right! Thanks for reminding me. (See? My brother is competitive with me, even on my own blog. Sheesh!)