Looking for a fun, easy game to play that just about anybody can get involved in and that doesn’t require any special skills or even much equipment? Use this guide to learn the LCR game rules.
Grab at least two friends, and you’ll have a whole new way to entertain yourselves for hours using nothing more than a few normal 6 sided dice and some poker chips.
Properly known as a Left, Center, Right (LCR), this fast-paced dice game is all about leaving it all up to chance as you try to become the one player with chips left at the end of the game.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll talk you through how to play LCR in simple, easy-to-follow instructions, but first, let’s break down everything you need to know about the game.
What is LCR?
If you’re the kind of player who loves bingo and other games of chance, you’ll find a lot to like about LCR, a game where Lady Luck reigns supreme and there’s no special abilities required. Simply roll the dice, carry out the actions associated with whatever numbers you throw, and hope those actions let you hold onto your chips.
Number of Players: 3+ (better with 5-6)
Ages: All ages, though some young children may need help with counting
Difficulty: Easy
Length of Play: 15 – 30 minutes per round
Similar to: Threes, Yahtzee and Farkle
Main Objective: Collect all the chips on the table to be declared the winner
Why We Love it: A game of pure luck, LCR requires very little skill or strategy. While that might be off-putting to some people, we like that it makes for an inclusive game where everyone is at the same level. Plus, it’s always exciting when you get to take one of your opponent’s chips.
What You’ll Need to Play the LCR Dice Game – Equipment
One of the many things we love about LCR is that you can get a game started without any special equipment. All you need are the following two items:
- 3 x normal 6 sided dice
- 3 x chips per player.
For the chips, you can use regular poker chips, coins, candy or even some spare counters from a board game such as Candyland. Alternatively, you can use the chips that you get when you buy the retail version of LCR.
These complete LCR sets also come with specially designed dice to keep things nice and simple. If you’re brand new to the world of dice games or you’re playing with young children who might have trouble counting the pips on the dice, then such sets may well be a good idea.
Otherwise, you can play with any three dice and any kind of chips or counters you have to hand. That’s all you need to get going.
How to Play the LCR Dice Game – Setting Up
If you’re playing with the retail version of the game, you’ll see that your dice are already labelled with an L (Left), C (Center), and R (Right) symbol, as well as the three required dots.
If you’re playing with regular dice, all you need to do is assign these symbols to a particular number so that everyone understands that.
- 1, 2, 3 = dots
- 4 = L (Left)
- 5 = C (Center)
- 6 = R (Right).
Of course, you can make these substitutions however you like as long as everyone is in agreement, but it just makes sense and keeps things nice and simple if you do it this way.
With that done, each player gets three chips (or coins, or whatever you’re using), and with that, you’re ready to play.
LCR Game Rules – Video Tutorial
Starting the Game
The method for deciding who goes first is no different than it would be if you were playing a card game like Idiot, a board game such as Aggravation, or any number of popular dice games.
Either opt for the oldest/youngest player to go first, or have each player throw one dice each. The player who throws the highest number starts the game. If you’re playing the retail version, you might decide that the player who lands either L, C, or R goes first.
Players all sit in a circular formation and the starting player throws all 3 dice, with the numbers (or symbols) on those dice determining what actions that player needs to take.
Those actions are as follows:
- Roll L / 4 = Give one chip to the player on your left.
- Roll C / 5 = Put one chip in the center pot in the middle of the table (this can be an actual pot, but most often “pot” is just a name given to the collection of chips in the center).
- Roll R / 6 = give one chip to the player on your right
- Roll a dot (1,2,3) = don’t take any action.
Play then continues in a clockwise motion.
Determining How Many Dice to use
The LCR rules state that a player can only throw as many dice as they have chips.
For example, on the first go, all 2 players will have at least 3 chips, so will roll all 3 dice.
If you only have 2 chips, you only throw 2 dice, and so on.
If you don’t have any chips left, you’re not out of the game but can’t throw any dice. You must wait until luck intervenes and causes a player at either side of you to hand over a chip.
LCR Rules in Action – A Gameplay Example
LCR is one of those dice games that sounds more complicated to explain than it actually is. If you ask us, the best way to demonstrate how it’s played is with an example, so here goes:
The starting player (Player 1) has 3 chips so throws 3 dice. He rolls a 1,2 and 4/L. The 1 and 2 are dots and don’t mean anything, so he keeps 2 chips but has to give a third to the player on his left.
That player, who we’ll call Player 2, now has 4 chips, but as the maximum number of dice you can throw is 3, she still only throws 3 dice.
Player 2 throws a 2, a 5/C, and a 5/R. So she keeps 1 chip, puts one in the center pot, and gives the third chip to the player on her right.
This means that Player 2 now only has 1 chip left.
So, when the play comes back around, Player 1 can use his 2 chips to roll 2 dice and Player 2 can roll 1 dice because they only have one chip left. By the end of the game, once all other players are out, the player who still has at least one chip wins.
How to Win at LCR
The aim of the game is to be the last player standing with your chips intact.
This keeps things interesting because, when one player loses all their chips, they’re still technically in the game and can turn things around if another player has to hand over chips. yet when there’s only one player left with their chips, that player becomes the winner of the game.
Not only do they get to keep all of their own chips, but they also collect all of the chips that were placed into the central pot.
A new round is created and the game is repeated over several rounds. At the end of a fixed number of rounds, whoever is left with the most chips is the overall winner.
Frequently Asked Questions About LCR
How do you play the LCR Wild version of this game?
LCR Wild is played much the same way as regular LCR except numbers 1,2, and 3 also come into play as follows:
Roll 1 = Take 1 chip from any opponent
Roll 2 = Take 2 chips from 1 player or 1 chip each from 2 different players
Roll 3 = Take all the chips in the center pot.
How do you play the Left Right Center game with money?
Instead of using poker chips or something similar, agree on what kind of money you’ll be playing with (say quarters or single dollar bills) and use them instead. So, instead of giving your chips to another player, you’d give coins or bills instead.
Can you play LCR with regular dice?
Absolutely. Although commercial sets are available with purpose-made dice, all you need to do to play LCR with regular dice is assign the Left, Right, and Center actions to a specific number, so 4 becomes left, 5 becomes Center and 6 becomes Right.
Alternatives to LCR – Other Popular Dice Games to Enjoy
If you’ve enjoyed playing LCR but are looking to change things up a bit, there’s plenty of popular alternatives to enjoy. Fans of this game often find lots of similarities in the dice game of Bunco, while the game of Qwixx is a great choice for anyone who wants a dice game that doesn’t leave everything to chance while still proving every bit as entertaining as this classic dice game.
