Original Knot Dice

Play with art! Knot Dice are games, puzzles, and artistic inspiration all in one.

Create beautiful Celtic knot designs while playing a large number of different games and puzzles.

A box of original Knot Dice includes 18 dice, dozens of puzzles, and 12 games for up to 3 players.

Knot Dice have also been used in roleplaying games, to create knitting patterns, and as desktop toys. They have even been used for art therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, and meditation.

Visit the Knot Dice Facebook group to talk with other Knot Dice fans and share your designs.

Original Knot Dice Games & Puzzles

Games that come in one box (many of these can be played with more players with an additional set or the deluxe set):

• Kells - a cooperative game for 1-3 players. Work with your friends to complete the largest Celtic knot design you can.
• Kells: The Book - a cooperative game for 1-3 players. Complete Celtic knot designs over several rounds.
• Kells: The Abbey - a cooperative game for 1-3 players. Complete designs on a vertical wall built of dice.
• Knot So Fast - a fast-paced competitive game for 2 players. Complete your designs faster than your opponent.
• Knot So Fast Too - a fast-paced competitive game for 2-4 players. Complete your designs faster than your opponents over a series of round-robin matches.
• A Celtic Yarn - a puzzling competitive game for 2 players. Find a strand of yarn that stretches from one side of a tangled knot to another.
• Osbox - a competitive game for 2 players. Slide dice into a grid to complete knot designs.
• Trí na Coillte - a competitive game for 2 players. Chase your opponent's token traveling over paths through the woods.
• Snakes - a competitive push-your-luck game for 2 players. Drive your snake farther away than your opponents'.
• Knot the Whole Story - a cooperative storytelling game for 2-4 players. Tell a story that follows the twists and turns of the dice.
• Distance - a competitive game for 2 players. Move your two tokens as far as possible from each other following the paths on the dice.
• Minarets - a competitive game for 3-4 players. Construct the best possible buildings with your two partners.

Full game rules (PDF 2MB)

French rules for the games Kells and Knot So Fast (PDF 1MB)

Video rules for the 12 Knot Dice games are on the Black Oak Games YouTube Channel.

Puzzles that come in the box:

• Symmetry (Creation) Puzzles - create symmetrical designs using the given dice.
• Completion Puzzles 1 - starting with a set arrangement of dice, complete a design in as few turns as possible.
• Completion Puzzles 2 - a slightly more difficult variation on completion puzzles 1.
• Transformation Puzzles - starting with a set completed design, transform it to another completed design in as few turns as possible.
• Building Puzzles - build three-dimensional shapes with complete designs on all visible faces.
• Wall Puzzle - find a design that works on the top of a "floor" of dice so that when disassembled and reassembled it also works on the side of a "wall" of dice.
• Oxvo - sliding the dice around like a 15-puzzle, form the longest possible path in the fewest possible turns.

Full puzzle rules (PDF 3MB)

French puzzle rules (PDF 3MB)

Playing with Larger Player Counts

Some of the games can handle larger player counts, but they require 9 dice per player.

These games work as written with 9 dice per player and won't take any longer to play:

• Knot So Fast (the first player to 9 dice wins)

These games will work as written (6-9 dice per player) but the games will take a little longer to play:

• Kells (and the other two Kells cooperative games)
• Knot So Fast Too (play against each other player once)
• Minarets
• Knot the Whole Story
• Snakes

The game Distance I think would be fun with a larger player count. For 5 or 6 players start with this shape: ‡. Each player starts at one of the end points.

More Knot Dice:

Knot Dice Deluxe