Left Center Right
LCR
Three dice say where your chips go: to the neighbour on your left, the one on your right, or into the centre, from which nothing returns.
Everybody starts with the same number of chips. On their turn a player rolls three dice — but no more than they have chips: with two chips they roll two dice, with one, one.
The dice then dispose of their property. A "left" sends a chip to the neighbour on the left, a "right" to the neighbour on the right, a "centre" into , from which it never returns. A blank face means nothing and the chip stays.
There is nothing at all to decide here: not one choice in a whole game. It runs on the fact that chips circulate endlessly while the centre slowly eats them — and on the moment when the player next to you is down to one chip, rolls one die, and everybody watches.
Rules of Left Center Right
What you need
Three dice and chips — coins, beans, anything alike. Ready-made sets have special dice with letters on some faces and blanks on the rest.
Setup
Everybody gets the same number of chips, usually three. The players sit in a circle.
A turn
The player rolls as many dice as they have chips, up to three.
Each result disposes of one chip:
- left — give it to the neighbour on the left;
- right — give it to the neighbour on the right;
- centre — put it in the middle of the table;
- blank — the chip stays.
Having handed over what is due, the player passes the dice on round the circle.
Empty hands
A player with no chips is not out. They miss their turns but stay at the table: the moment a neighbour passes them a chip, they roll again.
The centre
Chips in the centre never return to play under any circumstances.
End of the game
The game ends when only one player still has chips. That player wins — along with whatever is in the centre, if anything was being played for.
Worth knowing
How many chips everyone starts with is given variously — usually three. Ready-made sets come with special dice carrying the letters on their faces; with ordinary dice the table decides which numbers mean what, and that agreement is its own.
Glossary of terms
- Empty hands
- The state of a player with no chips. They do not roll, but they are still in the game and rejoin the moment a neighbour passes them one.
- The centre
- The common pile in the middle of the table. Whatever goes there never comes back into play.