Strategy guide

Bitches looks like pure luck. It mostly is, but a handful of habits will quietly shave points off your score every game.

Respect the big dice first

The single most important idea: the eight, ten, and twelve-sided dice are where games are won and lost. A six-sided die can never cost you more than five points. A twelve-sided die can cost you eleven. So when a big die rolls high, bank it on the spot, even if you would normally rather reroll. A twelve showing 12 or 11 is a gift, and rerolling it to chase a different die is how people blow up their score.

The flip side is just as important. A big die showing a low number is the worst thing on the table, and it is tempting to keep rerolling it hoping it climbs. Sometimes you should. But every reroll forces you to also bank something, so you cannot fix the big die in isolation.

The forced set-aside is the whole game

You must bank at least one die per roll. That rule is the source of all the tension. If you reroll a fistful of dice hoping a low twelve-sided die improves, you are obligated to lock in one of the others too, and you do not always control which good options survive. The practical takeaway: when you reroll for one specific die, make sure the dice riding along are ones you would be happy to bank anyway.

Know your break-even

On a six-sided die, the average reroll lands on 3.5, which scores 2.5 points. So if a six is already showing a 4, 5, or 6, rerolling it is a losing bet on average. If it shows a 1 or 2, rerolling is usually worth it. The same logic scales up: a twelve-sided die averages 6.5, which scores 5.5, so anything from 7 up is worth keeping and anything below is fair game to gamble. Memorize the rough cutoffs and most of your decisions get easy.

Quick reference

• Six-sided: keep 4 and up, reroll 1 to 2, judgment call on 3.
• Eight-sided: keep 5 and up.
• Ten-sided: keep 6 and up.
• Twelve-sided: keep 7 and up.

These are averages, not laws. Late in a turn, when you are forced to clear out the pile, you take what you can get.

Bank, do not stall

A common mistake is hoarding decent dice and rerolling them again and again chasing a perfect six. Each reroll is another forced bank and another chance to get stuck with garbage. If a die is above its break-even, the safe and usually correct move is to take the points and move on. Greed is the enemy in a game where the goal is to lose.

Play the endgame, not the dice

When only a few dice are left and they are all low, stop optimizing each one and just clear them. There is no benefit to dragging out a doomed turn, and the forced set-aside means you will pay eventually. Get it over with and start fresh next round.

That is most of it. The rest is dice. Go try it, and check the rules if you need a refresher.