How to play
Everyone has a sheet of four rows of lily pads. The red and yellow rows count up from 2 to 12; the green and blue rows count down from 12 to 2. You cross pads from left to right only: any pads you skip are gone for good.
Each turn one player rolls six dice: two white, and one red, yellow, green and blue.
1. The white dice, for everyone. Every player may cross the total of the two white dice in any one row, or pass.
2. The color dice, for the roller. The roller may also cross one white die plus one color die, in that color’s row. If the roller crosses nothing in either step, they take a miss, worth −5.
Closing a row. The last pad of a row (12 in red and yellow, 2 in green and blue) can only be crossed once you have five crosses in that row. Crossing it closes the row for everyone, takes its die out of the game and counts as two crosses.
The end and scoring
The game ends straight after someone takes a fourth miss, or a second row is closed. Each row scores more the more you cross: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 21, 28, 36, 45, 55, 66, 78 for 1 to 12 crosses. Add the rows and take off 5 for each miss. The highest total wins.
Tips
Early on, only cross numbers that skip one pad or none. Sevens come up most, the ends least, so skipping a 2 or a 12 costs less than skipping a 7. When it’s not your roll there’s no penalty for passing, so be picky.