D I C E,  A  S U B -D I V I S I O N

Dice can be sub-divised according to various criteria. Some of them are size, colour, anciennity, material, markings and last but not least: SHAPE.

On this page  you will find a kind of sub-division according to the shape of dice, which automatically  includes the number of sides of which dice are composed.

DICE                         

Astragalus                                 knuckle-bones of sheeps and goats      the origin of dice 

2-sided  (primitive)                  beans, shells, pebbles, bamboo sticks , beaver-teeth, walnut shells, fruit stones and pits

             (non-primitive)             coins                                                                                                         

3-sided                                      regular: the lingoloto die       <  d3 par Alain Sorge

                                                   irregular stick ("Drei Magier" and "Schleckermaul" and many others)  3-and 4-sided stick dice 

4-sided pyramidal-shape          irregular:  4-sided  "Royal Game of Ur" type (handmade)

                                                   regular:   4-sided (score on top/score on the 3 bottom edges)

             wedge                                   regular:     4-sided dice (wedge, rolit and pyramidal)

             spherical                        regular:   the Rolit die  (a spherical perfection of the regular pyramidal shape)                            

             stick                               irregular: already used by Romans, but generally used in India for games like Pachisi (Parcheesi)           

                                                      six Indian 4-sided stickdice 

             oval-shaped                   irregular: the Westerwanna type                                                                      

6-sided cube                             regular:   -  so-called perfect or precision (=casino) dice               

                                                  regular:   -  more or less perfect although mechanically  made          

            non-cube                             regular    -  many varieties like the so-called Joker die (product of the year 1998 in Germany)  

                                                   irregular  - the typical flat types like those found in Balkan Countries (Roman?), Ethiopia type 

                                                   irregular   - purely hand-made cube (generally in use from Indus culture till the middle of the 20th Century) 

                                                   hollow handmade bone dice      solid handmade bone dice        

                                                               irregular    -  human figures (in cube-shape) like the (Theakston) Peculier of Masham dice, Roman and Chinese items 

                                                                                                                                                                                                 irregular   -  Mr & Mrs Dice   or Lord & Lady Dice

                                                                                                                                                                                            d24 par Franck Dutrain  \/

 5 and more than 6-sided       regular:    -   8-, 10-, 12-, 20-, 24-, 30-, 50-, 100-sided      

                                                                                                                                    d5 et d7 par Louis Zocchi    \/                                                                            

                                                   irregular:  -   5-, 7-, 14-, 16-, 18-, 26-, 32-sided etc.                   

Spherical-shaped                                               

Teetotums                                     and Dreidels  

Mechanical device                                     

Electronical device                        

Others                                                  

_{back to home page}