How to Play Help Your Neighbour

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Help Your Neighbour is a fast, noisy dice game for two to six players in which each person claims a number and races to fill their pot with counters by rolling matching faces. Rounds take minutes, the rules fit on one side of a card, and the swings of fortune keep everyone watching even when it is not their turn.

It is a firm favourite at kitchen tables, family gatherings, and pub game nights. Because no reading or arithmetic is needed beyond counting to twelve, it genuinely works across generations at the same table.

A little history

The origins of Help Your Neighbour are unclear. Dice allocation games of this general type appear across British pub and parlour traditions, but no definitive earliest record or single inventor has been reliably documented. The game is most commonly encountered in the United Kingdom and is traditionally passed on by word of mouth rather than through published rulebooks, which accounts for the many minor regional variations in counter counts and winning conditions.

Setting up

1. Seat two to six players around the table.
2. Assign each player a number from 1 to 6. With fewer than six players, distribute the remaining numbers evenly or leave them unowned, depending on the variant agreed before play.
3. Give each player exactly 12 counters and a pot or marked space to collect them in.
4. Decide who rolls first, traditionally the youngest player or by a single highest-roll tiebreak.
5. Place both dice within easy reach of the starting player.

How to play

1. The active player picks up both dice and rolls them.
2. For each die showing the active player's own number, they place one counter into their pot.
3. For each die showing any other player's number, that other player places one counter into their own pot.
4. A single roll can therefore benefit up to two different players, or the same player twice if both dice show their number.
5. After resolving the roll, the dice pass to the left regardless of whether the active player scored or not.
6. Play continues clockwise, each player rolling both dice on their turn.
7. If a rolled number has no owner (common in games with fewer than six players), nothing happens for that die.
8. A player who has already placed all 12 of their counters continues to take turns rolling, and any other player whose number comes up still scores normally. The rolling player simply cannot score further themselves.
9. The game ends the moment any player places their twelfth and final counter into their pot.

Winning and scoring

The first player to collect all 12 of their counters wins the game. There is no scoring across rounds unless players agree to a multi-round session beforehand, in which case wins are tallied and the player with the most wins after an agreed number of rounds is the overall winner.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns what happens when a player finishes mid-round: the game ends immediately on the twelfth counter, not at the end of the full round. Players do not get an equalising turn. Agree this before play begins to avoid arguments at the table. A second frequent point of contention is whether the roller must announce their number aloud or whether the other players are responsible for watching the dice themselves. Standard practice is that all players are responsible for claiming their own counters; if you miss your number and the next roll has already happened, you do not go back.

With only two players, each player typically owns numbers 1, 2, and 3 or 4, 5, and 6 respectively, giving each three numbers per die face rather than one. Agree the exact allocation before play, as this significantly affects the pace of the game. With three players, each player owns two numbers; with four or five players, leave the spare numbers unowned and treat those faces as blanks for the purposes of scoring.

How to win more often

• Pay attention every roll, not just your own turn. You must spot your number and claim your counter yourself; nobody is obliged to do it for you.
• With fewer than six players, lobby before the game to own numbers that appear on both dice configurations favourably. In practice, all single-die numbers are equally likely, so focus on securing agreement over the unowned numbers rather than haggling over specific digits.
• Keep your counters in a tidy stack until you are ready to pot them. Disorganised counters cause disputes about whether a twelfth has genuinely been placed.
• Watch the leader's count. Once someone has nine or ten counters potted, concentrate on confirming every roll carefully. Games are regularly lost because a player disputes the final counter after the fact.
• In multi-round sessions, track win counts visibly with a simple tally on paper. This removes any ambiguity about the overall score and keeps the pace up between rounds.

Variations

Reverse Help Your Neighbour

All 12 counters start in each player's pot. When your number is rolled, you remove a counter rather than adding one. The first player to empty their pot completely wins. This version rewards the same luck but can feel more dramatic as the end approaches, since each counter removed is visible progress toward victory.

Three-Number Game (Two Players)

Each of the two players owns three numbers on a single die, typically one player taking 1, 2, 3 and the other taking 4, 5, 6. Both dice are still rolled each turn, so each roll offers two scoring chances per player and the game moves at a noticeably faster pace. The counter count of 12 each remains standard.

Pass the Pot

A small ante of counters is placed into a central pot at the start of play. Any roll of a double immediately awards that central pot to the rolling player, who adds the counters to their own total and must then contribute a fresh ante back to the centre. If a player wins with a double, they take the centre pot first and then the game ends. This adds a second thread of tension alongside the main race.

Extended Game (18 Counters)

Each player starts with 18 counters instead of 12, making the game run roughly fifty percent longer. This variant suits groups who want a more sustained session or find the standard game ends too quickly with a small number of players. All other rules remain identical.

Help Your Neighbour: frequently asked questions