Ship Captain Crew vs Farkle: Which Bar Dice Game to Play?

Ship, Captain, Crew

Farkle

The Verdict

Play Ship, Captain, Crew for fast bar-style rounds: you get three rolls to find a 6, 5 and 4 in strict order, then your two leftover dice score as cargo — a hand is over in a minute. Play Farkle for a longer arc where every roll poses a real bank-or-press decision on the road to 10,000. Farkle rewards judgement; Ship, Captain, Crew delivers instant, noisy fun.

Side by Side

	Ship, Captain, Crew	Farkle
Players	2+ (turn-based)	2–8
Dice used	5	6
Average game length	~1 min per hand	30–45 min to 10,000
Luck vs skill	Almost pure luck; one re-roll choice	Heavy luck; banking decisions matter
Rules complexity	~1 min to learn	~5 min to learn
Solo play	Fine for high-score chasing	Poor
Age suitability	6+	8+
Origins	Sailor and bar dice tradition	Folk '10,000' dice game; commercial from 1980s

One minute of drama versus a long gamble

Ship, Captain, Crew compresses everything into three rolls. You must lock a 6 (the ship), then a 5 (the captain), then a 4 (the crew) — in that order — and whatever two dice remain when you have all three become your cargo score. Miss the sequence in three rolls and you score nothing. Farkle stretches the same push-your-luck nerve over an entire evening: every roll that scores lets you press on toward 10,000, and one dead roll wipes the turn.

Where the decisions live

In Ship, Captain, Crew the only real choice arrives when the sequence is complete early: re-roll your cargo dice for a higher total and risk a worse one, or bank what you have. Everything else is forced by the 6-5-4 rule. Farkle asks a sharper question on every single roll — bank the points or gamble them — and knowing that one die busts about two times in three is what separates regulars from beginners.

Which fits your table?

Ship, Captain, Crew is the better round-buyer's game: hands are so short that a table of six gets through everyone before the drinks arrive, which is exactly why it lives in bars and on ships' messes. Farkle wants a settled table and a scorepad — the fun compounds as totals climb toward 10,000. If you only have five minutes, sail; if you have an evening, farkle.

Pick Ship, Captain, Crew if…

you want a complete hand inside a minute
you are playing at a bar or party with quick turns
you want rules a newcomer absorbs in one demonstration
you like the tension of a forced 6-5-4 sequence

Pick Farkle if…

you want meaningful bank-or-press decisions
you enjoy reading odds and pressing your advantage
you have a group settled in for a full game
you want a race to a 10,000-point finish line

FAQ

How do you play Ship, Captain, Crew?

Roll five dice up to three times. You must set aside a 6 (ship), then a 5 (captain), then a 4 (crew), in that strict order. Once all three are locked, the remaining two dice are your cargo and their total is your score for the hand.

Can you keep a 5 before you have rolled a 6?

No — that is the game's defining rule. The captain cannot board before the ship, and the crew cannot board before the captain. A rolled 5 is dead until you have locked your 6, which is where most hands are won or lost.

What does it mean to farkle?

To roll dice that contain no scorers — no 1s, no 5s, no triples or other scoring sets. A farkle ends your turn and wipes every point accumulated in it, which is the game's central threat.

Which game is better for a big group?

Ship, Captain, Crew moves faster: each player's hand takes about a minute, so eight players still cycle quickly. Farkle handles the same numbers but each turn is longer, so a full game with a big table can run well past an hour.

Is there strategy in Ship, Captain, Crew?

A little: when your sequence completes on the first or second roll you choose whether to re-roll the cargo dice for a higher total. Beyond that judgement call it is a luck game — which is precisely its charm as a bar game.

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