60 Things to Do with a D60

60 Things to Do with 60-sided Dice

Mesmerize yourself watching it roll.
Just bask in the awesomeness of its polyhedral glory.
Mesmerize your cat watching it roll.
Amaze your friends next time you get together to play D&D.
Let random chance determine the minute past that the hour that you will stop studying, raid the fridge, call your significant other, etc.
Pair it with our d24 to randomly select any hour and minute in the day.
Pair two d60's with our d24 to randomly select any hour, minute, and second in the day.
Randomly select a second in a minute or a second in a degree.
Trick your dad by slipping a white one in his golf bag.
In general, an n-sided die can be used to randomly choose among j choice for any j that is a divisor of n. A 60-sided die is especially flexible, as 60 is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, and 60. To select among 15 choices, for example, assign four of the face numbers to each number from 1 to 15. So 1-4 could be assigned to 1, 5-8 to 2, ... ; or just take the remainder when dividing the rolled number by 15 (a remainder of 0 would correspond to 15).
See how many you can stack in a column without its tumbling over. Hint: Three is relatively easy, so we recommend buying a minimum of six d60's before trying this yourself.
Use a stopwatch to find out how long you can get one to roll before it settles on a number.
Prove that deltoidal hexecontahedra do not tile space. (May require multiple d60s.)
Pick from 60 different monsters to deploy for the next encounter as DM in D&D.
Embrace your indecision over whether you prefer the dodecahedron or the icosahedron - have both!
This game can be played by any number of people from one to a classroom of students. Roll a d60. When it settles, someone says the number out loud and immediately rolls it again. Before it settles again, a designated person must name all of the number's proper divisors (divisors exclusive of 1 and the number) or state that the number is prime.
Like the above, except the designated person must write the Roman numeral equivalent.
For a foreign language class, like the above, except the designated person must say the number in the foreign language. To make it more challenging, the designated person must count up to the number, starting at one.
Variations on the above using a second, smaller die are also possible. For example, roll both a d6 and a d60. The d6 will settle first, and the designated person has to state the product of the number on the d6 and the number on the d60.
Variations using more than one d60 are also possible. For example, roll two or more and state the average of the numbers on each.
Another variation of this game will help develop the useful skill of approximating numbers. One possibility is to treat the numbers as representing minutes in an hour. The quarter hour that most nearly approximates the rolled number of minutes is then stated. E.g., a 51 would be "three quarters past the hour". The same concept can be applied to any fractions, such as naming the nearest sixth. E.g., a 51 would be "five sixths".
Practice quantitative estimation skills. With a number of identical dice such as d6's, guess how many d6's will weigh approximately the same as one d60. Use a balance or a scale to find the answer.
If you're a mathematician, engineer, or scientist, liven up your next meeting by whipping out a d60 and rolling it across the conference table.
d60's make great stocking stuffers and party favors. Spark mathematical wonder in young minds! They're also great for rewarding the achievements of math students.
Pile up that "Pass Go" money more quickly by playing Monopoly with a d60 instead of two d6's. Try using a d60 with other board games.
If you don't mind occasional do-overs, you can use it to choose a random number between, e.g., 1 and 50. If you roll 51-60, just roll again.
In a return to the 1960 "dome house" craze, design a unique home based on the awesome design of the D60. (Suggested by Peter McGowan)
By combining the use of a D12, a D30, a D24 and two D60s, one could select an exact second on a random date in the year to hold a dice party. (Suggested by Peter McGowan)
A d60 could be used in conjunction with (say) three d12s to help young students learn some arithmetic skills. By rolling three D12s and a D60, the student would have to create a simple set of addition/subtraction/multiplication/division rules to use the three numbers to create the number on the D60.(Suggested by Peter McGowan)
A d60 can be used in a type of roulette game of chance - a grid of 60 numbers (and various combinations such as even, odd, multiples of 10, etc) are laid out and bets are placed on various numbers arising. If one D60 is rolled, a return of 60 times the wager is paid; if two d60s are rolled, payment is 30 times the wager, if three d60s are rolled, the payout is 20 times the wager, etc. This game is played between a "bank" and any number of players. (This is a variation on the "Crown and Anchor" game played with three d6 dice.) (Suggested by Peter McGowan)
Use it to generate random numbers in base 58. In particular, Bitcoin private keys can be generated this way. Click here to learn more.

OK, so we're not quite to 60 yet! Feel free to send us your brilliant suggestions.