How to Play Ship Captain Crew

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

Ship Captain Crew is a fast, lively dice game for two to eight players using five standard six-sided dice. The goal is simple: roll a 6, a 5, and a 4 in sequence to get your ship, captain, and crew aboard, then squeeze the highest possible score from the two remaining dice. Rounds last less than a minute, the rules fit on a beer mat, and the swings of fortune keep every player involved until the final roll.

It is a fixture at pub tables, kitchen tables, and camping trips across the UK and beyond. No board, no cards, and almost no setup make it the kind of game that travels in a coat pocket and gets played anywhere a flat surface and a few willing players can be found.

A little history

The exact origins of Ship Captain Crew are unclear. It is widely described as a traditional pub and sailors' dice game, and its nautical theme has led many to associate it with maritime drinking culture, though no firm documentary record pins down when or where it was first played. It appears under several names including Ship of Fools, Clickety-Clack, and 6-5-4, suggesting it spread through informal oral tradition rather than any single published ruleset. By the mid-twentieth century it was well established in pubs and service messes across the English-speaking world.

Setting up

1. Gather two to eight players around a flat surface.
2. Agree on the number of rounds to play, typically three, five, or seven.
3. If playing for stakes, agree on the ante and have each player place it in the centre before the first round begins.
4. Decide who goes first, typically by each player rolling one die and the highest roller starting. Re-roll any tie.

How to play

1. The active player takes all five dice and rolls them.
2. The player must collect a 6 (the Ship), then a 5 (the Captain), then a 4 (the Crew) strictly in that order before any cargo score counts. A 5 cannot be kept unless a 6 has already been secured; a 4 cannot be kept unless both a 6 and a 5 have already been secured.
3. After each roll the player sets aside any qualifying dice, starting with the 6 if not yet held, then the 5, then the 4. Only one qualifying die may be claimed per face value per roll, though if both a 6 and a 5 appear on the same roll and no 6 has been claimed yet, both may be kept in the same roll.
4. The player may re-roll all remaining dice up to a total of three rolls per turn. Dice already set aside are not re-rolled.
5. If after three rolls the player has not secured all three of the 6, 5, and 4, their score for that turn is zero.
6. If the player secures the 6, 5, and 4 with rolls to spare, the two remaining dice become the cargo. Their combined face-value total (2 to 12) is the player's score for the round.
7. A player who secures the ship, captain, and crew before using all three rolls may choose to re-roll the two cargo dice once with any remaining rolls to try to improve the cargo score. They are not obliged to re-roll.
8. Once the active player's turn ends, play passes clockwise to the next player.
9. After all players have taken their turn, the player with the highest cargo score wins the round. In the event of a tie for the highest score, the tied players each take one additional roll of the two cargo dice (re-establishing ship, captain, crew is not required in a tie-break; tied players simply roll two dice and the higher total wins). Re-roll further ties until one player is ahead.
10. Play the agreed number of rounds. The player who wins the most rounds wins the game, or if playing for a pot, collects it.

Winning and scoring

The player with the highest cargo score at the end of each round wins that round. A perfect cargo score is 12 (both remaining dice showing 6). Over the agreed number of rounds, the player who wins the most rounds is the overall winner. When playing with a pot, the winner of the final round, or the player with the most round wins, takes the entire pot. Ties are resolved by a sudden-death roll of two dice as described in the main rules.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns whether both a 6 and a 5 can be claimed in the same roll when neither has been secured. The standard ruling is yes: if the dice show a 6 and a 5 simultaneously and neither has been claimed, both may be set aside in one roll, because the sequence requirement is satisfied by the dice available at that moment rather than by rolling them on separate occasions. The same logic applies if a 6, 5, and 4 all appear on the first roll, in which case the player has immediately secured ship, captain, and crew and scores the remaining two dice as cargo straightaway, with up to two re-rolls of those cargo dice still available.

A second common edge case is the voluntary re-roll of cargo dice. Once a player elects to re-roll the cargo, they must accept the new result even if it is lower. There is no taking it back. Some house rules forbid the cargo re-roll entirely to speed the game up, which is a legitimate variation but should be agreed before play begins. Also note that a player cannot keep one cargo die and re-roll only the other unless the group has explicitly adopted that as a house rule; the default is that both cargo dice are re-rolled together.

How to win more often

• If you secure ship, captain, and crew on your first roll, think before re-rolling cargo. A combined cargo score of 9 or above is worth keeping in most company; only re-roll if the field is clearly going to outscore you.
• With two or three rolls still available and only the 6 secured, roll all four remaining dice rather than holding back dice that are not part of the sequence requirement. More dice in play means more chances to land the 5 and 4 together.
• Track what scores the players before you have posted. If you need only a 7 or more to win the round and you already have a 7 showing on your cargo, do not re-roll out of greed. A guaranteed win beats a possible improvement.
• In a large game (six to eight players), be more conservative with cargo re-rolls. Someone in a long field will likely post a high score, so protect a solid result rather than fishing for a 12.
• Pay attention to how many rolls the previous players needed to secure ship, captain, crew. If several players failed outright, the pressure to score high is lower and you can afford to re-roll borderline cargo totals.

Variations

Betting Pot

Each player antes an agreed amount into a central pot at the start of the game. The winner of the final round, or the player with the most round wins across the session, takes the whole pot. Some groups award the pot to the first player to win three rounds outright rather than playing a fixed number of rounds. Agree the exact format before the first ante is placed.

Three-Round Sudden Death

Players play exactly three rounds. Anyone who fails to secure ship, captain, and crew in all three rounds is eliminated immediately. Among those who survive all three rounds, the highest cumulative cargo total wins. This format rewards consistency over luck and works well with four to six players.

6-5-4 with a Joker Die

A sixth die is added to the roll. It functions as a wild and may stand in for any single required die (ship, captain, or crew) or be counted at face value as part of the cargo. Using the wild as cargo rather than to rescue a missing ship, captain, or crew is usually the wrong play, but it does come up with interesting decisions when five dice show promising cargo numbers.

Team Play

With six or eight players, split into two teams of equal size. Each player takes their turn in normal order, but the team's score for each round is the combined cargo total of all its members who successfully secured ship, captain, and crew that round. The team with the higher combined score wins the round. This format makes individual failures less punishing and encourages table banter between teammates.

Ship Captain Crew: frequently asked questions