Rules
Roll 5d6. After each throw, lock at least one die you want to keep, then re-roll the rest. Continue until all 5 are locked.
- 3s score 0.
- Every other face counts its face value.
Three rounds. Lowest cumulative total wins. Best possible round: a “perfect” 0 (all five locked as 3s).
History
Threes is an old folk dice game that turns the usual “high is good” dice instinct on its head. The catch is the forced lock - you must commit at least one die per throw, even if everything came up 6s. That single rule converts what would otherwise be a pure re-rolling grind into a real decision: keep a low-but-not-zero now, or gamble on a 3 next throw?
The expected value of a single d6 re-roll is 3.5, so the textbook rule is to keep any die at 3 or below and re-roll 4-6 - which is exactly what the bot here does, with the tie-breaker of locking the single lowest die when nothing’s at 3 or under. Bots can’t gamble away from EV; humans can, which is most of the fun.
References