Ship, Captain & Crew rules
What it is
Ship, Captain & Crew is a fast two-player dice game with a strict order to it. You roll five dice trying to get a 6, a 5 and a 4 — the ship, the captain and the crew — and you must get them in that order. Only once all three are secured do the remaining two dice count for anything: their total is your cargo, and the bigger cargo wins the round. It is a bar and wardroom game, sometimes called Six-Five-Four. This page describes the game as it is played at jpgames.app.
What you roll with
Five ordinary six-sided dice. You get three rolls per turn.
The order
This is the whole game, and it is unforgiving:
| You need | Called | Before you can claim |
|---|---|---|
| A 6 | the ship | anything else |
| A 5 | the captain | the crew |
| A 4 | the crew | any cargo |
A 5 is worthless until you have a 6. A 4 is worthless until you have both. Roll 5-5-4-4-3 on your first throw with no 6 among them and you have secured nothing at all — every one of those dice goes back in the cup.
Once a die is claimed it is set aside and stays there for the rest of your turn.
Play
- Roll all five dice.
- Anything you are entitled to claim is claimed automatically — the table does this for you, in order, so you never have to spot it or lose a die by mistake. If you have no 6 yet and you roll one, it becomes your ship; if you already have a ship and roll a 5, that becomes your captain; and so on.
- Roll the dice you have left. You get three rolls in total.
- Once you have all three, the remaining two dice are your cargo — their combined pip total. You may stop there, or spend any rolls you have left re-rolling the cargo for a higher number. Re-rolling risks nothing but the cargo you already have, since the ship, captain and crew are safe.
If you finish your three rolls without securing all of 6, 5 and 4, you have not launched and you score nothing for the round.
Scoring
Both players take a turn, and then the round is settled.
| Round outcome | Result |
|---|---|
| Both launched | the higher cargo wins and scores its own cargo value |
| Both launched, equal cargo | nobody scores |
| Only one launched | that player wins and scores their cargo |
| Neither launched | nobody scores |
Only the winner scores, and they score their cargo. The loser gets nothing, even if they launched with a decent cargo of their own. The maximum possible cargo is 12 — two sixes — and the minimum for a launch is 2.
Because only the round winner scores, a game is a series of small head-to-head contests rather than an accumulation.
Ending the game
First player past the target wins. The default is 100 points. If both players would be past the target with identical scores, play continues until somebody is clearly ahead.
Variants we implement
- Standard two-player Ship, Captain & Crew, which is what this page describes.
- Target score — 100 by default.
Where we differ from the common rules
- Two players only. The pub version is played by any number in turn; here a bot fills the other seat.
- Only the round winner scores. Some tables let everybody bank their cargo every round. Here the loser scores nothing.
- No ante or pot. The game is scored in points, not stakes, and there is nothing to bet.
- You must take a claimable die. Some tables let you decline a 6 in the hope of a better roll; here claiming is automatic and mandatory, which is the standard rule.
- No 5-4-6 or other orderings. The progression is fixed at 6 then 5 then 4.
Ready to play? Start a Ship, Captain & Crew table — a bot fills the other seat, so a game starts whenever you do.
For the wider game, including the house rules above that we do not implement, see Ship, captain, and crew on Wikipedia.
Common questions
What order do you need in Ship, Captain and Crew?
Six first, then five, then four. A five does not count until you have a six, and a four does not count until you have both. Dice that would be useful out of order are simply re-rolled.
What is the cargo?
The two dice left over once you have your ship, captain and crew. Their combined total is your cargo, and it is both what you score and what decides the round. The best possible cargo is 12.
How many rolls do you get?
Three per turn. Any rolls left after you have secured the 6, 5 and 4 can be spent re-rolling the cargo for a higher total, and doing so cannot cost you the ship, captain or crew.
What happens if you do not get the ship, captain and crew?
You have not launched, and you score nothing for that round. If your opponent launched, they win the round.
How do you win Ship, Captain and Crew?
Each round the player with the higher cargo scores it; the other scores nothing. First to 100 points wins.