Yahtzee

What You Need

• 5 dice.
• A score sheet with the 13 categories. Use the pad from the box or draw one on paper.
• A dice cup. Optional.

Setup

Each player takes one score column. Each player rolls all 5 dice once. The higher total goes first. From then on, take turns.

How a Turn Works

1. Roll all 5 dice.
2. Set aside any dice you want to keep. Reroll the rest. You may also pick up dice you kept before.
3. Reroll once more if you want. Three rolls is the limit. Stopping early is allowed.
4. Write a score in one empty box on your sheet. You must fill a box every turn. If nothing fits, write a zero somewhere.
5. Each box gets used exactly once, so the game is 13 turns per player.

Upper Section

• Aces: total of all the 1s you rolled
• Twos: total of all the 2s
• Threes: total of all the 3s
• Fours: total of all the 4s
• Fives: total of all the 5s
• Sixes: total of all the 6s

If the six upper boxes add up to 63 or more, you get a 35 point bonus. Three of each number gets you exactly 63. Four sixes make up for two ones.

Lower Section

• Three of a Kind: at least three dice the same. Score the total of all 5 dice.
• Four of a Kind: at least four the same. Total of all 5 dice.
• Full House: three of one number and two of another. 25 points.
• Small Straight: four in a row, such as 2, 3, 4, 5. 30 points.
• Large Straight: five in a row, 1 to 5 or 2 to 6. 40 points.
• Yahtzee: all five dice the same. 50 points.
• Chance: anything at all. Total of all 5 dice.

Yahtzee Bonus and Joker Rules

Roll a second Yahtzee after you have scored 50 in the Yahtzee box, and you get a 100 point bonus. Mark a check in the Yahtzee Bonus box. You still have to score the dice somewhere. The joker rules say where.

1. First, the matching upper box. Five 4s must go in Fours if Fours is open.
2. If that upper box is filled, use any open lower box. Three of a Kind and Four of a Kind score the dice total. Full House scores 25, Small Straight 30, Large Straight 40, Chance the dice total.
3. If the upper box and every lower box are full, enter a zero in any open upper box.

If you scored a zero in the Yahtzee box earlier, a later Yahtzee earns no bonus. The joker rules still apply.

Scoring

Add the six upper boxes. Add 35 if that total is 63 or more. Add the seven lower boxes. Add 100 for each Yahtzee bonus check. That is your grand total.

Winning

Highest grand total wins. A perfect-strategy player averages about 254 points. A score over 300 almost always means at least one Yahtzee.

Two-Player Notes

• Turns alternate, 13 each, so a game runs 20 to 30 minutes.
• Head-to-head, you have one score to beat. Look at their sheet. If they are on track for the 35 bonus and you are not, that gap decides the game.
• Play best of three or five. Alternate who rolls first each game.
• Behind with three turns left? Gamble. Chase the Yahtzee with three of a kind instead of settling for the safe total.
• When you must dump a bad roll, sacrifice Aces or Twos before you burn Chance.

Strategy Tips

• Protect the 35 bonus. Take three or more of the higher numbers when you can. Aim for 63 by turn nine.
• Never score Chance early. Ten turns in, a 20-point junk roll in Chance is a gift.
• Do not chase the Large Straight from scratch. Even with all three rolls it lands about 1 time in 4.
• A zero in the Yahtzee box is not a disaster. Most games you will not roll one.

Variations

• Forced Yahtzee: every Yahtzee must be scored in its matching upper box, even the first. Ugly, but fast.
• Triple Yahtzee: each player runs three columns at once. Column one scores single value, column two double, column three triple. The official Triple Yahtzee sheet has the layout.
• Solo: the box rules allow one player. Beat your best score.