Shopping for used games at thrift stores and yard sales is a ton of fun. Almost as much fun as actually playing the games. Many times we’ve passed on a game at a good price because it was missing a piece or two, and that piece is usually the dice. When we spotted Sharp Shooters on the shelf of our local Goodwill and noticed it was supposed to have 32 dice, we knew we might be in trouble. It went into our basket anyhow because for the price ($2.38) we could always use the dice in other games. Fortunately for us the game was complete!

Sharp Shooters - ContentsManufactured by Milton Bradley, Sharp Shooters is a fun western-themed Yahtzee-to-the-next-level game that is a combination of luck and strategy. Each player receives an equal number of dice and take turns rolling them into the provided tray.

Sharp Shooters - PlayingEach turn you roll a maximum of five dice and then use those results to place them on the shared game card trying to complete tasks such as “fours”, “straight”, “full house”, etc. As long as you get one die that can be placed on the card you continue to roll until you are either out of dice for that round or you can’t play a valid number. Each completed task is awarded with “poker chips” determined by the complexity of the task. Some tasks are penalties that result in you returning chips to the bank; but if you roll those numbers you MUST play on them. That’s where the strategy lies – you can stop rolling early to force your opponent to roll in hopes they’ll roll a bad number.

Sharp Shooters - Filling up CardOnce a card is filled, you start the next round with a different card (12 two-sided cards included) and continue for a total of five rounds. The winner is the player with the most chips at the end of the game.

Sharp Shooters - Winner

Unfortunately this game was manufactured in 1994 and is no longer in print. Fortunately there are quite a few available online for well under $20. If you see one at your local thrift shop for a couple bucks, take a chance and pick it up for yourself! You can always use the extra dice!

42 thoughts on “Thrift Treasure: Sharp Shooters

  1. What a coincidence! I just blogged a while ago on toys and the memories of childhood connected with toys and games…and now I get to read this post on games which look similar to my childhood dice games 🙂

  2. Looks like fun. I’ve never thought to look for used games at a thrift shop. Thanks for the tip! Now I know where to head to prepare for my game night party next month.

  3. Wow, Scott, what a great game by Milton Bradley, Sharp Shooters looks like so much fun to play with kids and adults alike. You mentioned that it’s a Yahtzee-to-the-next-level game. I have played the regular Yahtzee game but not this one. Nice find at the thrift store. Here you can find unexpected treasures in flea markets or garage sales. I have played the Monopoly, Twister Rave, Scrabble and Beyblades games by Hasbro. It brings out the kid in each and every one of us.

  4. Your post gives me visions of locking my family down in the house and forcing them to play unending hours of board games with me to make up for all that I didn’t play as an only child. (big smile) I guess a holiday like today would be a good opportunity to play some games together. Nice find! I love bargains.

  5. What a great idea to buy board games at thrift stores. They are so expensive and don’t get used nearly enough to justify the price. I like the idea of using pieces from one game to complete another!

  6. I love thrift shop board game finds! You just have to thoroughly check them to make sure all the pieces are there. This one looks like a lot of fun too!

  7. I’ve been wanting to try different games but the prices are just a bit too much, I didn’t think to look in a thrift store, how cool! I’ll have to try that soon. We have a Goodwill nearby so maybe they’ll have some good games. The price you paid is a huge steal! It looks like a lot of fun too!

  8. That sounds like a fun game for family game night. I am shocked that all the pieces were there. I love going to thrift stores to find things like this, we recently found a game that new was over $30 but at the thrift store I picked it up for $2.38!

  9. I like that you can find out of production games on line so easily now-a-days. We recently found one on eBay from my childhood. 🙂 This one sounds fun! It looks a tad bit like Poker Yahtzee.

  10. That looks like a blast – I might wait for my little one to join our family game nights, but I am seriously looking forward to it

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