Mexen

Mexen (also called Mexxen or Mexicanen) is a dice game played mainly in the Netherlands. The scoring is similar to Mia, but there is no bluffing in Mexen: everyone rolls in the open, and the lowest roll of the round loses.

How to play

You play with two dice. The higher die is the tens, the lower die the units: 5 and 3 make 53.

Ranking from low to high: 32, 41, 42, 43, 51 … 65, then the doubles from 100 (1 and 1) to 600 (6 and 6). At the very top is Mex (2 and 1). A 31 doesn’t count – see the drinking rules.

1. The starting player may roll up to three times and stop at any point. Only the last roll counts.
2. However many times the starter rolled is the limit for everyone else: if the starter stops after two rolls, nobody else may roll more than twice.
3. Once everyone has had a turn, the lowest roll loses. If there’s a tie, the tied players roll off against each other.
4. The loser starts the next round.

Drinking rules

• The loser drinks the amount you agreed on beforehand, for example 1 sip.
• Every Mex in the round doubles the penalty: one Mex makes it 2 sips, two Mexes make it 4. We don’t recommend more than 4 sips per round.
• Roll a 31 and you hand out 1 sip and roll again. The 31 itself doesn’t count.

Variations

• With lives: Everyone places their own die in front of them with the 6 facing up. Lose a round and you turn it down by one – by two for each Mex. If you’re already on 1 and lose again, you’re out of the game.
• Ending the round early: As long as nobody has rolled a Mex yet, a player with a bad roll may end the round and take the single penalty – before a Mex can double it.
• With bluffing: Roll under a cup, announce your roll, truthfully or not – and you’re playing Mia.

Tips

• A dice cup keeps the dice on the table while everyone can still see what was rolled.
• The starter can play tactically: stopping early on a decent roll leaves the others fewer attempts.
• Some Dutch groups make the loser down a full glass in one go. With doubling, that gets out of hand quickly – stick to sips with a cap.

Without alcohol

Play with lives: whoever runs out of lives gets a small task from the group or picks the next game. The sips work just as well with water, soft drinks or alcohol-free beer.