There's Only One Decision In Cosmic Wimpout

Cosmic Wimpout is a weird little push-your-luck dice game that's been around for more than a quarter century.
Like Pass the Pigs, the game basically revolves around rolling certain dice combos which score varying amounts of points, with an ever-present chance of rolling a combo that ends the player's turn with no points being scored at all.
Unlike Pass the Pigs, which uses charming little rubber pigs for "dice," Cosmic Wimpout does use cubes, although they are custom cubes with New Age-style symbols on them. Four of the dice are white and have symbols representing "2" "3" "4" and "6" on four sides and a "5" and "10" on the others. There's a fifth, black die, which replaces one of the symbols with a "Sun" which serves as a wild card.
When playing a push-the-luck dice game there's really just one decision to make: Do you stop and score what you have so far or go on in hopes of more. It's a great way to tease out your level of tolerance for risk.
Cosmic Wimpout adds a delicious twist to the mix, which is why it's a more intense game than Pass the Pigs. In Pass the Pigs you can always stop, so it's a pretty straightforward test of risk tolerance, complicated only by the fact that there's absolutely no way to compute any probabilities because the dice are odd-shaped little rubber pigs.
It's a little easier to get a handle on the odds in Cosmic Wimpout because it uses cubic dice, but it may not do you any good. That's because under some conditions you're forced to roll again, generally under conditions that have already netted you some pretty good scores.
Perversely. this makes the moments when you can stop even more precious and the decision more agonizing, which is why this very simple little game has managed to stay popular and build up a dedicated following.
(There are, on occasion, times you can make a minor choice, usually about whether or not to score the "Sun" or roll it again, but this limited choice doesn't change the nature of the game).
Most games are all about choices, Cosmic Wimpout is the rare game that's about just one.

Featured game: Pass the Pigs - a trifle to pass the time

Pass the Pigs has been around for more than 30 years already! I remember when it first came out as Pigmania. It's been quite a run for such a trifle of a game.
I attribute it's longevity to a couple of factors. First off, it's kind of fun in a silly way. I mean, you throw pigs!
Secondly, the profit margin on the game must be obscene. It's had various packaging presentations over the years, but generally it comes in at about $10 or so retail. Aside from the packaging, there really isn't much to the game. There's a couple of pencils, a small score pad and a single-page instruction sheet. Oh yeah, and a couple of soft plastic pigs. How much could that cost? A buck?
I'm sure the game's been a steady money-maker for years.
The game play is fairly simple. Pass the Pigs is a classic "push your luck" game. Players toss the pigs as dice and score points depending upon how the pigs land. If both pigs land on their sides the tossing player earns a point for a "Sider." If one or both of the pigs land on their feet, backs, snouts or jowls the tossing player scores 5-60 points depending on the exact configuration, which are given names such as Trotter, Razorback, Snouter, Leaning Jowler, doubles of those or a Mixed Combo. The player can stop and bank the points earned to thast point or toss again. But if the pigs land on their sides but opposite from each other that is termed a "Pig Out" and the player scores no points and loses all the points scored so far in that round.
Unlike Cosmic Wimpout, which is a similar game, there are no forced rolls, so the tossing player can always stop and bank his score, so the game is very much a pure "push your luck game." There's no real strategy involved. One simply stops when one loses his or her nerve. The first player to reach 100 points win.
About the only complication is a roll that results in both pigs touching each other. This is an "Oinker" and results in the player losing all his points earned so far, not just the ones earned in the current round. Careful wrist action when tossing the pigs should minimize the chance of this happening. The rulebook also depicts a "Piggyback," which occurs when one pig lands standing ontop of anotehr standing pig, but I'd say the chances of this actually happening are about zero. If it did happen, you'd be out of the game, though.
Unlike normal dice games, which use six-sided dice or other polyhedral shapes, the irregularly shaped pigs in Pass the Pigs are impossible to analyse in terms of probability short of using, perhaps, a massive supercomputer. Even then, it might not be possible, because the pigs are made with a soft, rubbery plastic which has a little "give" and bounciness. There's no telling how that characteristic affects the odds.
Still, a little experience shows that the pigs are most likely to land on their sides, so 'Pig Outs" are pretty common and it's usually a good idea to stop and bank points anytime you've managed to score 20 or more points in a round because chances are you'll roll a Pig Out before you roll another high-scoring configuration.
Unlike some other push-your-luck type games there's not a lot of scope for a big turn that can bring you to victory if you're far behind. Accumulating points steadily in batches of 20 or so will generally pay off more often than trying to gamble for the big win.
There's an optional way to play called a "Hog Call" that involves guessing how the pigs will land. Correct guesses pay off double points while incorrect guesses cost double, so this option just adds even more luck to a game that's already all luck and I can't see how it's an improvement.
The lack of any real strategy or player influence means this isn't really much of a game for gamers. It's simply a way to pass the time.
It does have the virtues of playing quickly, costing little and not taking up much room, so it's a good filler game or travel game for long trips with kids.

Game of the Week: Backgammon

About 25 years ago I remember backgammon had a surge in popularity. It seemed like everybody had a leather-bound travel case with them. The gambling aspect appealed to a lot of folks, I think, although poker seems to have captured the fancy of most young gamblers these days. While its possible to make a living a professional backgammon player, it's money earned bit by bit, without the huge windfalls that make the World Poker Championships on TV so exciting.
Among friends and acquaintances, though backgammon still has its place as a nice past time, with some low-level gambling possibility. The advantage backgammon has over poker is that it's a two-player game, so you don';t need to get a group together like you do for poker.
Backgammon evolved from the ancient "tables" games, examples of which were played by the Romans. The game took its present shape a few hundred years ago, although the doubling cube only came into use in the 1920s. Playing with the doubling cube adds an additional level of strategy while also bringing hopeless games to a close earlier.
Unlike most other classic games, backgammon does include a significant luck factor, which turns off some people. Understanding probabilities is necessary for decent play and I think it's a good mechanism for teaching probability to kids.
Games seem to go through cycles of popularity so I wonder if backgammon will regain some of its popularity anytime soon. It is one of the more popular games online.
One place where there isn't a lot of action is at the casinos. Unlike most other gambling games there's no house advantage, so the game is too fair for casino use.