Say Cheese Dice Game Rules

This page covers Say Cheese! The Quick Pics Dice Game from Gamewright’s 12 Minute Games line. It was published in 2009, carries Stock no. 5216, and is now out of print. It is not the Roblox story, the Project Genius/Eureka rolling puzzle, or the Steam/Switch mouse maze.

Do not confuse it with Diced Cheese, a different dice game with a cheese theme, or with the “Say Cheese” merchandise and photo-booth products that appear in search results. The official title, quick-play time, and dog-and-cat dice are the quickest identifiers.

1. 1
   25 photo booth cards. Each card shows two characters and the cards are matched by the dice faces.
2. 2
   8 custom dice. Every player uses one die with a dog and one die with a cat. The other symbols match characters printed on the cards.
3. 3
   Rules of play. The 2009 box also lists Spanish instructions (“Instrucciones en Español”).
4. 4
   A game for 2–4 players, age 6+, with a playing time of about 12 minutes or less.

The official PDF lists the ten character names printed on the cards and dice: Patty, Scarlett, Dougie, Lester, Jane, Jim Bob, Bryce, Tabitha, Wynona and Zane. The exact character chart belongs on the printed rule sheet; this guide does not reconstruct a card-to-die table that the text extraction cannot reliably show.

1. 1
   Give every player one dog die and one cat die.
2. 2
   Take a moment to compare the characters on the dice with the characters on the cards.
3. 3
   Shuffle all 25 cards and place the deck face down in the center.
4. 4
   Turn over the top two cards and place one on either side of the deck. Keep both face up; the game always uses two available cards until the deck is exhausted.

1. 1
   Count to three. On three, every player starts rolling both dice as fast as they can.
2. 2
   Compare your two top faces with the two characters on either face-up card. Both dice must complete one card’s pair.
3. 3
   When you have the match, shout “Cheese!” and take that card.
4. 4
   Place the claimed card face down in front of you. Turn over a new card from the center deck so there are two face-up cards again.
5. 5
   Keep rolling for another match until the center deck is exhausted.

You claim a card when the two dice faces match the two characters shown on it. The same two dice can match either of the two center cards; choose one and state the match by shouting Cheese. If you have a match, do not wait to see whether another player can use the other card.

One wild side

Each die has one wild face. If one die shows wild and the other die matches one of the characters on a face-up card, you can claim that card. The wild substitutes for the missing character; you still need the other die to match the card. Shout Cheese when you claim it.

Double wild: Double Cheese

If both dice show wild, shout “Double Cheese!” and immediately take both face-up cards. Turn over two new cards from the center deck and continue rolling. The double-wild result is not a choice between one card or two; the official rules award both.

There are two different tie rules. When two players claim the same card at the same moment, neither player gets it. Put that card face down at the bottom of the deck and turn over a new face-up card. This is not a reroll and it does not give the card to another player.

At the end, a tie in the number of collected cards is broken by counting the dogs and cats across each tied player’s cards. The player with the most dog and cat symbols wins. The rules do not say to play another round or share the win.

1. 1
   Keep rolling and claiming cards until the last card is taken from the center.
2. 2
   Each player counts the cards face down in front of them. The highest card total wins.
3. 3
   If two or more players have the same card total, count the dog and cat symbols on their collected cards. The most dogs and cats wins the tie-break.

The box description says “Win all the cards,” but that is promotional shorthand. The official rules award the game to the player with the most cards, not the only player who ends with cards.

Gamewright’s product page says the game is no longer available. A second-hand copy should include 25 cards and 8 custom dice; check both before paying a collector price. The official rules PDF remains available for download from Gamewright and is linked in the source list.

The product page’s older “SayCheeseTM-RULES.pdf” link returns 404, but the working PDF at /pdfs/Rules/SayCheese-RULES.pdf contains the English and Spanish rules. Use that link rather than a copy on a third-party site.