Overview

Go Nuts! is a fast-paced press-your-luck dice game published by Gamewright. Players roll squirrel dice to collect acorn points, pushing their luck to accumulate more before cars eliminate their dice. A special “Go Nuts!” round triggers when all dice show squirrels, creating a frantic simultaneous rolling frenzy. The first player to reach 50 points wins.

Components

• 5 squirrel dice (with squirrels, acorns, and cars on faces)
• 4 dog dice (with dogs and doghouses on faces)
• Score pad
• Pencil
• Rulebook

Setup

1. Each player receives one dog die.
2. Place the five squirrel dice in the center of the table.
3. One player is designated as scorekeeper with the score pad.
4. Determine a starting player.

Turn Structure

On your turn:

1. Roll all five squirrel dice simultaneously.
2. Set aside cars – any dice showing cars are removed from play for this turn.
3. Count acorns – each die showing an acorn scores 1 point.
4. Decide: Either stop and bank your accumulated points, or re-roll all remaining dice showing squirrels (and acorns, which stay in play but are re-rolled).
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you choose to stop or are forced to stop.

Actions

Normal Rolling

• Acorns: Worth 1 point each.
• Squirrels: No immediate value but can be re-rolled.
• Cars: Removed from play immediately; cannot be re-rolled this turn.

Stopping

• At any point after a roll, you may choose to stop and bank all acorn points accumulated this turn.

All Cars

• If all remaining dice show cars, your turn ends immediately. You lose all points accumulated this turn only.

One Die Left Rule

• If only one die remains and it shows an acorn, pick up all five dice and continue rolling.

Go Nuts! Round

• If you ever roll ALL squirrels (no acorns, no cars), you must shout “Go Nuts!”
• Immediately begin rolling all five squirrel dice as rapidly as possible, calling out the running total of acorns as you go.
• Cars rolled during the Go Nuts! round are immediately re-rolled (they do not count).
• Simultaneously, all other players begin rapidly rolling their dog dice.
• A dog die shows a doghouse on five sides and a dog on one side. When a player rolls a dog, they bark.
• Once ALL opponents have barked (rolled a dog), the active player stops rolling.
• The active player scores all acorns rolled during the Go Nuts! round.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• Points are tracked on the score pad across turns.
• The first player to reach 50 points wins the game.
• Players may agree on a different point target before the game begins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Cars during Go Nuts!: Unlike normal rolling, cars are immediately re-rolled during the Go Nuts! round rather than being removed.
• Simultaneous dog rolling: All opponents roll their dog dice at the same time during a Go Nuts! round. The round ends only when every opponent has rolled a dog.
• One die acorn: The one-die-left rule (picking up all five dice) only triggers when the single remaining die shows an acorn, not a squirrel.
• Turn loss: You only lose the current turn’s points if forced to stop by all cars. Previously banked points are safe.

Player Reference

Dice faces – Squirrel dice: Acorn (1 point), Squirrel (no value), Car (removed)

Dice faces – Dog die: Doghouse (5 sides), Dog (1 side)

Key thresholds: 50 points to win

Go Nuts! trigger: All dice show squirrels

One die left: If last die is an acorn, pick up all 5 dice and keep going