How to play Yahtzee

Yahtzee is played with five dice, a score card and something to write with. The card has 13 boxes to fill during the game. One to six players works well, and turns pass clockwise.

If you do not own an official pad, drawing the boxes on a sheet of paper is easy. They are all listed under scoring below.

On your turn you roll all five dice. Set aside any dice you want to keep and reroll the rest, up to two more times. After at most three rolls you must enter the result in an open box on the card.

Each box can only be used once. If nothing fits, you have to cross out a box and score zero there. The game lasts 13 rounds, until every box is filled.

The upper section has boxes for ones through sixes, where you enter the sum of the dice showing that number. If the upper section totals at least 63 points, you earn a 35 point bonus.

The lower section consists of:

• Three of a kind: at least three equal dice, scores the sum of all five
• Four of a kind: at least four equal dice, scores the sum of all five
• Full house: three of a kind plus a pair, worth 25 points
• Small straight: four dice in sequence, worth 30 points
• Large straight: five dice in sequence, worth 40 points
• Yahtzee: five of a kind, worth 50 points
• Chance: the sum of all five dice, any combination

If you roll five of a kind after the Yahtzee box is already filled with 50, you earn a 100 point bonus for each new Yahtzee. The roll still has to be entered somewhere, and the joker rule decides where:

• If the matching number box in the upper section is open, you must use it.
• If that box is taken, you may use any open box in the lower section. Full house, small straight and large straight then score their full value.
• If only upper boxes remain, you must take a zero in one of them.

If the Yahtzee box was crossed out with a zero earlier, you get no bonus, but the joker rule still applies.

Once everyone has filled their 13 boxes, each player adds up their points, including the upper section bonus and any Yahtzee bonuses. The player with the highest total wins.

In Germany the game is sold as Kniffel, with the same rules. For a longer session, try Triple Yahtzee, where you fill three columns at once and the last two count double and triple.

The historical forerunner Yacht is played without bonuses and joker rules, and has only twelve categories.

The games are close relatives, but the score sheets differ. Yahtzee has no boxes for one pair or two pairs, and the straights work differently: a small straight is four dice in sequence for 30 points, and a large straight is five in sequence for 40. Full house is a flat 25 points, while three and four of a kind count the sum of all five dice. The upper bonus is 35 points instead of 50 in Yatzy, and only Yahtzee has the joker rule and the 100 point bonus for extra Yahtzees.