Sausage Sizzle by 25th Century Games is a BBQ-themed dice game where the smell of sizzling sausages lures in a mob of hungry Aussie critters.
It’s a push-your-luck dice chucker that’ll have you chanting Sausage Sizzle one minute and yelling you Mother Quokka the next when your rolls go rogue.
Sausage Sizzle by 25th Century Games is a BBQ-themed dice game where the smell of sizzling sausages lures in a mob of hungry Aussie critters.
It’s a push-your-luck dice chucker that’ll have you chanting Sausage Sizzle one minute and yelling you Mother Quokka the next when your rolls go rogue.
Lighting the Barbie
Setup is super quick. Each player gets six different animal poker chips, then grab the dice and you’re ready to roll.
On your turn, you’ll roll eight dice; four animal, four food. After each roll, you’ve got to lock in at least one die before rolling again. The aim is to build up a set of matching animals and score them based on the food dice. At the end of your turn, you count how many of one animal you’ve got, then multiply that by the lowest food die you locked in. That’s your score for that critter. So even if you lock in three glorious fives early on, if your last food die ends up being a measly three, that’s your multiplier for the turn. It’s unforgiving, every roll feels like a gamble, and sometimes you’ll stick with a safe three just to avoid landing that cursed single sausage at the end.
The game plays over six rounds, and you can only score each animal once. Once you’ve scored them, flip their chip over to show they’re done. With Aussie creatures like kangaroos, echidnas, quokkas, crocodiles, snakes and platypuses in the mix, you’ll find yourself yelling things like “go for your crockas, not your quokkas” which sounds completely ridiculous but always gets a laugh.
All In for the Sizzle
The real kicker in this game is the sausage multiplier. If you manage to lock in four sausages across your food dice, you score a whopping x7 multiplier, the highest in the game. But roll
three or fewer sausages and your multiplier drops to just x1. Brutal. It’s the ultimate gamble. Do you play it safe with that solid x4? Or go all in, hoping for the fabled sausage sizzle, as the whole table watches in horror and delight. It’s absolute chaos when someone actually pulls it off, with everyone either celebrating or screaming in disbelief.
There’s a pinch of strategy in knowing when to risk it for sausages and when to hedge your bets. Not all food dice are created equal. Red ones have two sausages but not many high numbers, while brown ones have more high numbers than sausages. So, if your brown dice aren’t sizzling, it’s probably not worth the risk.
After six rounds, the player with the highest total score wins. In case of a tie, the crown goes to the player who scored the most sausage sizzles; those legendary four-sausage rolls.
Final Thoughts
Sausage Sizzle isn’t a heavy game in any way, but what it delivers in just 15 minutes is pure joy. The tension builds with every roll, and when you’re down to one brown die and desperately need a sausage, the whole table is leaning in. It’s loud, silly and perfect for all ages and abilities. I think my neighbours are now permanently scarred by the number of times we’ve screamed ROLL A SAUSAGE! They probably have no idea what’s going on but judging by the looks over the fence, it’s definitely raised a few eyebrows. Maybe not a game to play in the garden, in hindsight.
The charming art from Ian O’Toole gives it real table appeal, and the chunky animal chips are satisfying to flip. Chucking eight dice into the tray feels great every time, and it’s got just enough strategy with uneven food dice to keep things interesting.
It’s not a two-hour main event, but it shines as a game night opener, garden party crowd-pleaser or travel staple. Unlike the maths-heavy feel of Yahtzee or the darker tone of Zombie Dice, Sausage Sizzle brings laughter and sausage-fuelled chaos. So grab your buns, it’s time to light the barbie and get those sausages sizzling!
About the author:
* Sophie is a gamer, blogger, podcaster, and book lover with a passion for solo narrative video games. When she’s not immersed in games or writing, she’s probably out hiking. Her favourite board games feature worker placement, nature themes, and smart tableau-building mechanics.
Zatu Review Summary
Zatu Score
70%
