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How to play Pip House
Pip House is a score-chasing roguelike played with five dice. This page is the whole rulebook.
The short version
Each round has a target score. You have 3 throws to reach it. On each throw you roll five dice, keep the ones you like, reroll the rest, and score. Clear the round, shop for charms, and move on. Clear all 9 rounds and you beat the House.
A throw
- All five dice roll.
- Tap a die to keep it. Kept dice lift off the table and stay put.
- Press Reroll to roll the dice you did not keep. You get 2 rerolls per throw.
- Press Score when you like what you have. You can score at any time, including straight off the first roll.
The game names your hand for you and shows what it is worth right now, before you commit. The preview includes every charm, so each hold is a decision you can check.
Pot times Odds
Every hand has a base Pot and base Odds. The dice that make your hand add their pips to the Pot. Charms add to the Pot and the Odds, or multiply the Odds. Your score for the throw is Pot times Odds.
Three of a Kind: three 6s. The three 6s score, the other two dice do not.
Hand onlyPot 48 × Odds 3 = 144
Add the Sixer charm (every scored 6 gives +4 Odds):
With SixerPot 48 × Odds 15 = 720
Which dice score depends on the hand. A Pair scores two dice, a Full House scores all five. The full list is on the hands page.
In what order things count
The hand's base comes first. Then each scoring die adds its pips, and die charms fire for it. Then charms that look at the whole hand fire, in the order you bought them. That order matters a little: a +Odds charm bought before a ×Odds charm gets multiplied, and one bought after it does not.
Targets
Each round's target goes up. Reach it within your throws and the round is cleared. Run out of throws first and the run is over. Some bosses raise or lower their round's target a little to match how hard their rule is, and the bosses page lists the exact number for each.
| Round | Target |
|---|---|
| Round 1 | 210 |
| Round 2 | 650 |
| Round 3 | 1,200 |
| Round 4 | 1,880 |
| Round 5 (boss round) | 2,080, changed a little by the boss |
| Round 6 | 2,650 |
| Round 7 | 2,900 |
| Round 8 | 3,350 |
| Round 9 (boss round) | 3,650, changed a little by the boss |
Between rounds
Cash
You start a run with $5. Clearing a round pays $4. You also get $1 for each reroll you did not use and $2 for each throw you did not need, up to $5 from those. Scoring early pays.
The charm stand
The stand sells 3 charms and one Sharpen. The charms come from the ones you have unlocked (see below). Common charms cost $4, uncommon $6 and rare $8. Rarer charms show up less often. You can hold 5. Sell one for half what it cost to make room.
Restock re-rolls the whole stand. At each visit the first restock costs $3, and each one after that costs $1 more.
Sharpen
Sharpen improves one hand for the rest of the run. Each level adds Pot and Odds to that hand (a Pair gets +15 Pot and +1 Odds, for example). The first Sharpen of a hand costs $3, and each further level of the same hand costs $1 more.
Debt
One charm, Gambler, can push your cash below zero. While you are in debt the charm stand is closed.
Bosses
Round 5 and Round 9 are boss rounds. There are 6 mid bosses and 6 final bosses. A run picks one of each at the start and shows both from Round 1. Details and tips are on the bosses page.
Unlocks
24 of the 40 charms are in the pool from your first run. The other 16 unlock as you beat bosses: each boss win unlocks the next 2. The Collection screen in the game lists every charm, with the locked ones greyed out. See the unlock order.
When a run ends
A run ends when you clear Round 9 or run out of throws. With the full game you can also keep going in Endless. You see your total, your best throw, how far you got and how many points each charm added. Run again starts fresh with new dice. Same dice replays the run you just finished, so you can try a different plan.
After a win: Endless and Stakes
These come with the full game. Endless carries on after the Round 9 boss. Stakes make a normal run harder in three steps.
The daily run
One run a day, the same dice for everyone, with the starter 24 charms. One try a day, and a share card for your result. Free forever. It never costs anything.
What is free
$4.99 once for the full game. Your first run is free from start to finish. After that, free runs stop at the Round 5 boss until you unlock. The daily run is always free. Endless and Stakes come with the unlock. No ads, no account. Prices in other countries follow Apple's local pricing.