Bone · dice game rules
How to play Yahtzee — rules & scoring
Yatzy, Yacht
Yahtzee is the world's favourite dice game: five dice, three rolls per turn and a 13-box scorecard to fill as well as you can. Each box is used once, so the real skill is knowing when to sacrifice one.
- Players
- 1 to 8 (solo friendly)
- Length
- ≈ 30 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- What you need
- 5 standard 6-sided dice, 1 cup (optional).
Rules
How to play
Each turn, roll your 5 dice. You get 3 rolls: after each roll, you can keep some dice and reroll the rest. After your rolls, you must enter your result in one of the 13 categories on your scorecard. Each category can only be used once.
Upper section
- Aces (1): total of 1s.
- Twos (2): total of 2s.
- Threes (3): total of 3s.
- Fours (4): total of 4s.
- Fives (5): total of 5s.
- Sixes (6): total of 6s.
- Bonus: if the upper section total reaches 63 or more, you earn a 35-point bonus.
Lower section
- Three of a kind: 3 matching dice → sum of all dice.
- Four of a kind: 4 matching dice → sum of all dice.
- Full house: 3 matching + 2 matching → 25 points.
- Small straight: 4 sequential dice (e.g.
- 1-2-3-4) → 30 points.
- Large straight: 5 sequential dice (e.g.
- 2-3-4-5-6) → 40 points.
- Yahtzee: 5 matching dice → 50 points.
- Chance: any combination → sum of all dice.
Yahtzee bonus
If you roll a second Yahtzee (or more) and your Yahtzee box already has 50 points, you earn 100 bonus points per additional Yahtzee.
Winning
The game ends when all players have filled their 13 categories. Highest total score wins.
Yahtzee scoring chart
| Category | Points |
|---|---|
| Aces to Sixes | Total of dice showing that value |
| Upper bonus (≥ 63) | 35 |
| Three of a kind | Sum of all 5 dice |
| Four of a kind | Sum of all 5 dice |
| Full house | 25 |
| Small straight (4 dice) | 30 |
| Large straight (5 dice) | 40 |
| Yahtzee (5 of a kind) | 50 |
| Chance | Sum of all 5 dice |
| Each extra Yahtzee | +100 |
FAQ
- How many points is a Yahtzee worth?
- 50 points in the Yahtzee box. Every further Yahtzee earns a 100-point bonus, as long as the Yahtzee box already holds 50.
- How do you get the 35-point bonus?
- Score 63 or more in the upper section (Aces to Sixes), which is three of each value on average.
- Can you scratch a box in Yahtzee?
- Yes. If nothing fits, write 0 in any open category; it is then used up for the rest of the game.
- Are Yahtzee and Yatzy the same game?
- Nearly. Scandinavian Yatzy has 15 boxes (one pair, two pairs…) and no Yahtzee bonus; French Yam's adds several columns filled in a set order.
