WolfysPub Games
Wolfy's Derby box cover: the title on green felt in a wood frame, a brass horseshoe holding three colored dice, checkered flags, and six numbered colored discs

A Horse Racing Dice Game

Wolfy's Derby

Roll the Dice · Match the Colors · Gallop to the Finish

Six horses line up. You draw one at random, everyone antes a chip, and the dice do the rest. Every color that comes up moves that horse a space. First across the line takes the whole pot.

  • Board game for 2–6 players
  • In development
Tell me when it's ready

Wolfy's Derby is a horse racing game you can teach in about thirty seconds. Each player draws a horse at random and antes a chip into the pot. On your turn you roll three dice, but these dice don't show numbers, they show horses. Every color that comes up gallops one space closer to the finish, no matter who rolled. Because three dice land at once, two horses can cross together for a photo finish and split the pot. It plays just as well with a five-year-old as with a table of adults.

The Wolfy's Derby board: six numbered colored lanes, twelve green spaces each, ending in a FINISH column
The six jockey pawns in their racing silks

How to play

  1. Stand each jockey on its matching colored tile at the starting line.
  2. Take turns rolling one die. The color you roll is your horse; if it's taken, roll again. Everyone puts one chip in the middle: that's the pot.
  3. The youngest player goes first and play passes to the left. On your turn roll all three dice. Each die moves the horse of that color one space, so a roll of red, red, red gallops red three spaces.
  4. It doesn't matter who rolled. Every color shown moves, even horses nobody drew.
  5. The first horse across the FINISH line wins, and whoever drew it takes the whole pot.

Photo finish

Two or even three horses can cross on the same roll. They all win and split the pot evenly; any leftover chips stay for the next race.

Horses nobody drew

With fewer than six players some horses go undrawn, and they still run. If one of them wins, nobody collects: the pot stays on the table, everyone antes again, and the next race is worth double.

House rules

  • Full Field: with 2 or 3 players, everyone draws two horses and antes a chip for each, so every lane has an owner.
  • High Stakes: ante two chips instead of one.
  • Triple Crown: three races; the biggest stack takes the trophy.
  • Long Odds: before the race each player may name a second horse. If it wins, they take half the pot.

If you are teaching

Young players don't need the numbers at all. Say the colors out loud ("red, gold, gold") and let them move the horses. The counting takes care of itself.

The illustrated Wolfy's Derby rules sheet

The horses

Each horse has a number, a color and its own silks pattern, so you can always tell them apart without relying on color.

The three custom dice, showing horse numbers in lane colors instead of pips

In the box

  • Bi-fold race board, 18 × 9 in, twelve spaces per lane
  • 3 custom color dice, 16 mm, one face per horse
  • 6 jockey pawns in matching racing silks
  • Illustrated rules sheet

Chips are not included. Play with coins, buttons or candy.

The back of the Wolfy's Derby box with the component list and blurb

Why it works

Wolfy's Derby strips horse racing down to the part everyone actually likes: watching your horse run and having no control over it whatsoever.

You don't choose your horse; you roll for it, which means you're just as likely to end up on the one that comes last. Everyone antes a chip into the middle, and from there the dice run the race. There are no decisions to make, which is exactly why a young child can play it on equal terms with an adult.

And when a horse nobody drew wins, the pot stays put, everyone antes again, and the next race is worth double, which gets loud fast.

Not in stores yet

The artwork is finished and Wolfy's Derby is being readied for its first print run. There's no price or buy link yet. Want to hear when it's ready?

Email me when it's ready