How to Play Bobing
What is Bobing?
Bobing is a Mid-Autumn Festival tradition from Xiamen, in southern China. Family and friends gather around a big bowl and take turns rolling six dice into it. The numbers that come up, above all how many fours, decide who wins which prize, from a small One Red up to the Top Prize. Traditionally the prizes are mooncakes; today they can be anything your family agrees on.
How to play
- Open a room on the home page and send the link to your family chat. Everyone joins from a phone or computer.
- Add everyone’s names and set up the prizes, then take turns rolling. The site works out each prize and keeps score, and everyone sees the same game live.
- Only the numbers on the six dice count, not their order. Each roll counts as the biggest prize it makes.
- Once a prize runs out, rolling it again wins nothing. When every prize from Straight down to One Red is gone, the game ends and the Top Prize goes to the best Top Prize roll.
- Playing with a real bowl and dice? Switch to “Real dice” and enter what you rolled.
Prizes
From lowest to highest. Both the one and the four are red on the dice, but “red” in the prize names always means a four.
| Prize | How to get it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 一秀One Red | One four | 423566 |
| 二举Two Reds | Two fours | 441256 |
| 四进Four of a Kind | Four dice showing the same number (not four) | 222235 |
| 四进带一秀Four of a Kind + One Red | Four of a Kind, and one of the other two dice is a four: win both Four of a Kind and One Red | 666642 |
| 四进带二举Four of a Kind + Two Reds | Four of a Kind, and the other two dice are both fours: win both Four of a Kind and Two Reds | 333344 |
| 三红Three Reds | Three fours | 444126 |
| 对堂Straight | One of each number, 1 through 6 | 123456 |
Top Prizes
From lowest to highest. A higher level always wins; within a level, the tiebreak after the semicolon decides, and if it’s still a tie, whoever rolled first ranks higher.
| Prize | How to get it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 四红Four Reds | Four fours (but not with two ones); tiebreak: the sum of the other two dice | 444436 |
| 五子Five of a Kind | Five dice showing the same number (not four); tiebreak: the number on the five, then the sixth die | 555552 |
| 五子带一秀Five of a Kind + One Red | Five of a Kind with a four as the sixth die: also wins One Red | 222224 |
| 五红Five Reds | Five fours; tiebreak: the sixth die | 444446 |
| 六杯黑Six of a Kind | All six dice showing 2, 3, 5 or 6; tiebreak: the number | 333333 |
| 遍地锦Six Ones | Six ones | 111111 |
| 六杯红Six Reds | Six fours | 444444 |
| 状元插金花Golden Flowers | Four fours plus two ones | 444411 |
None of the above: no prize this roll.
Questions
- What if there’s more than one Top Prize?
- When the game ends, Top Prize rolls are ranked from best to worst and the top ones win, one each.
- What if someone rolls a Top Prize twice?
- Only their latest one counts, whether it’s better or worse.
- What if two people roll the same Top Prize?
- Whoever rolled it first ranks higher.
- Can you still roll a prize after it runs out?
- You can roll it, but it no longer wins anything. When every prize from Straight down to One Red is gone, the game ends.
- Are the online rolls fair?
- Online rolls use your browser’s cryptographic random number generator: each die is independent, and 1 through 6 are exactly equally likely.
- Is the room code private? How long do rooms last?
- The room code isn’t a password. Anyone who has it can join, so only share it with your family. A room is deleted 7 days after its last change.
- Can I play for money?
- No. Bobing.org is just for fun. The site never takes or pays out money, and there’s nothing to top up or cash out. Prizes are whatever your group agrees on offline, like mooncakes or small gifts. Please don’t use it for gambling, and follow your local laws.
For fun with family and friends. Not for gambling — no money changes hands on this site.
Built and designed by Lucas Li