How to design the end of a race game such that over-rolls do not break the logic of the game?

Question

I created a race game. Players start at one end and roll dice until they reach the end. Some players became confused when they reached the end. For example, if a player was three spaces from the end, but rolled a "5", they were uncertain if that meant a "win" or if the player should move 3 spaces ahead, then 2 spaces back.

 _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
|     |     |     |  *  |     |     |     |     |     |
| End |     |     | *** |     |     |     |     |Start|
|_____|_____|_____|__*__|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|

Either way does not seem ideal. Is there any way to design the end of the track such that over-rolls do not lead to any confusion?

Answer 1

Is there any way to design the end of the track such that over-rolls do not lead to any confusion?

Write "If your roll is enough to move up to or past the end, you win. If you roll 5 when you're 3 spaces from the end, that counts as winning." on the board, or in the game rules, or even on the end tile itself (with slightly different phrasing).

Designing the end of the track differently is only one means to communicating the rules. There are other ways, and just stating it outright is probably the clearest way.

Answer 2

You could consider having the "track" continue past the finish and mark the end as a line rather than a space. It should be clear then that a player has crossed the finish line, even if they've rolled more than enough to do so.