Dice High Jump Game: Rules, Heights and Odds

Dice high jump is a field event for two to six athletes. The bar starts low and goes up 10 centimetres at a time, and at every height you get three tries to roll high enough to clear it. Miss three times in a row and you are out. The last athlete standing wins, and a tie is settled by countback, just like in a real competition. It takes about ten minutes and needs only two dice, paper and a pencil.

What you need

• Two six-sided dice, or a dice roller set to two dice.
• A score sheet with a column for each height from 1.50 m to 2.30 m and a row for each athlete. Mark each try with O for a clear, X for a miss.
• A random name picker to set a fair jumping order.

Who jumps first?

Put every athlete’s name into the random name picker and draw them one by one to set the jumping order. Keep the same order at every height. Going first or last does not change anyone’s chance, because every athlete gets the same three tries at each height.

How to play

1. The bar starts at 1.50 m. In jumping order, each athlete rolls two dice once.
2. If your total reaches the number needed for this height, you clear it: mark O and wait for the next height.
3. If not, mark X. You jump again after the others, up to three tries at this height.
4. Three misses in a row at one height and you are out. Your best height is the last one you cleared.
5. When everyone still in has cleared a height or gone out, the bar goes up 10 cm. The competition ends when every athlete is out, or after 2.30 m, the top height in this game.
6. Countback: if two athletes share the best height, the one with fewer misses at that height wins. If still tied, fewer misses in the whole competition wins. If still tied, each rolls once more and the higher total wins.

This is a simple home version, not an official game. In real high jump, athletes may also pass a height and save their tries, and a tie for first place can be settled by a jump-off. The countback idea, fewer misses first, comes from the real rules. The event changed a lot when Dick Fosbury jumped over the bar backwards at the 1968 Olympics, and the “Fosbury flop” has been the standard style ever since.

The height chart and the chance per try

In the table, “Height” is where the bar is, “Roll needed” is the lowest total of two dice that clears it, and “Chance per try” is the exact probability out of the 36 ways two dice can land.

Each 10 cm makes the bar a bit harder, and the jump in difficulty is biggest around 1.80 m and 1.90 m, because the middle totals 6, 7 and 8 are the most likely ones, as our guide to dice probability explains. At 2.30 m only a double six will do.

How high can one athlete go?

The next table looks at one athlete. “Clear within three tries” is the chance to clear that height once you are there, and “Reach and clear from the start” is the chance to clear every height up to and including it. Both are exact, rounded.

The most common best height is 1.90 m, about 27% of the time, closely followed by 2.00 m. Clearing 2.20 m is rare, and clearing 2.30 m happens only about 4 times in 1,000 competitions for one athlete.

What height wins?

With four athletes, the winning height is the best height of the four. In this table, “Chance” is the exact probability that the competition is won at that height, rounded.

Most competitions with four athletes are won at 2.00 m or 2.10 m. With two athletes, both end on the same best height about 20% of the time, so countback matters more often than you might think.

Tips

• Use a ruler drawn on a large sheet of paper as the bar, and move a paper clip up as the height rises.
• Say the height out loud before each round, like a stadium announcer.
• For younger players, start at 1.20 m with the same chart moved down three rows.
• Keep the score sheet. Each athlete can try to beat their personal best next time.

Classroom ideas

• Measurement: mark 1.50 m, 1.90 m and 2.30 m on a wall. How do they compare with the height of students in the class?
• Probability: why is clearing 1.90 m in three tries more likely than in one? Work out 1 minus the chance of three misses.
• Data: record everyone’s best height and make a bar chart for the class.
• History: find out how the Fosbury flop differs from older styles such as the scissors jump.

Variations

• Passing: an athlete may skip a height and keep their tries, as in real competitions.
• Pole vault: start at 4.00 m and raise the bar by 20 cm, with the same chart.
• Team jump: teams of two add their best heights together.
• Fosbury bonus: once per competition, an athlete may add 1 to a roll.

For another jumping event, try our dice ski jumping game. If you prefer running, take on a dice marathon.

Prefer to jump for distance? Try our dice long jump game, with three jumps and a take-off die for fouls.

Want to go even higher? Grab a pole in our dice pole vault game.

FAQ

How do you play high jump with dice?

The bar starts at 1.50 m and rises 10 cm at a time. At each height, roll two dice and reach the number on the chart to clear it. You get three tries per height, and three misses in a row put you out.

How many athletes can play?

Two to six athletes work well. With more athletes, the winning height tends to be higher.

What happens on a tie?

Countback: fewer misses at the tied height wins, then fewer misses in the whole competition, and if still tied, one extra roll each.

What height usually wins?

With four athletes, usually 2.00 m or 2.10 m.

Does the jumping order matter?

No. Every athlete gets the same three tries at every height, so the order does not change the odds.

What is the Fosbury flop?

A style of high jump where the athlete goes over the bar head first and backwards. Dick Fosbury made it famous at the 1968 Olympics.