What you need
Five ordinary dice, a score card for each player, and a pencil. Any number can play, one at a time, taking turns to the left; on your own, you play to beat your best score. The printable Yahtzee score sheet has room for six games, or play Yahtzee online and let the card add itself up.
A turn: roll, keep, roll again
On your turn, roll all five dice. Then you may set aside, or hold, any of them and roll the others again. Do it once more if you like: up to three rolls in all. A die you held can be rolled again later in the same turn. You may stop after the first or second roll.
For example, the first roll comes up 3, 3, 5, 1, 6:
You keep the two 3s and roll the other three dice, which come up 3, 2, 3:
Now you have four 3s. You could stop and score them, or keep all four and roll the last die once more, hoping for a fifth 3 and a Yahtzee.
After the last roll you must fill one box on your card, and only one. Each box is filled once in the game. If the dice do not fit any open box, you still fill one, with a 0: this is called scratching a box.
The upper section: Ones to Sixes
The six upper boxes each count one number. In Fours, add up only the 4s; the other dice do not count. So 4, 4, 4, 2, 6 scores 12 in Fours, 2 in Twos, 6 in Sixes, and 0 in Ones, Threes or Fives. Hasbro's card calls the Ones box Aces.
The 35-point bonus
If your six upper boxes add up to 63 or more, you score a bonus of 35. Sixty-three is what you get with exactly three of each number (3 + 6 + 9 + 12 + 15 + 18), so think of three of a number as par for each box. Four 6s (24) make up for a Ones box with only one 1 in it.
The lower section
The seven lower boxes score patterns. A box whose pattern the dice do not make can still be filled, for 0.
Three of a kind
At least three dice the same. Scores all five dice added up.
Four of a kind
At least four dice the same. Scores all five dice added up.
Full house
Three of one number and two of another. Scores 25.
Small straight
Four numbers in a row: 1 2 3 4, 2 3 4 5 or 3 4 5 6. The fifth die can be anything. Scores 30.
Large straight
Five numbers in a row: 1 to 5 or 2 to 6. Scores 40.
Yahtzee
All five dice the same. Scores 50.
Chance
Any five dice. Scores all five added up.
A four of a kind also counts as a three of a kind, and a large straight also counts as a small straight, so you can choose either box.
Yahtzee bonuses
Once your Yahtzee box holds a 50, every further Yahtzee you roll adds a bonus of 100, as many times as it happens. You still fill a box with it, by the Joker rules below. If you scratched the Yahtzee box earlier (a 0 in it), later Yahtzees earn no bonus, but the Joker rules still apply.
The Joker rules
When you roll a Yahtzee and the Yahtzee box is already filled, the dice are a Joker, and they go on the card in this order:
- If the upper box for that number is open, it must go there. Five 4s score 20 in Fours.
- If that box is filled, put it in any open lower box. Full house scores 25, Small straight 30 and Large straight 40, as if the dice fitted; three of a kind, four of a kind and Chance add up the five dice.
- If every lower box is filled too, put a 0 in any open upper box.
Outside the Joker rules, a Yahtzee is not a full house: three of one number and two of another must be two different numbers.
How the game ends and who wins
The game lasts thirteen turns, one for each box. Then add up the upper section, add 35 if it reached 63, add the lower section and 100 for each Yahtzee bonus. The highest total wins. A good game is 200 to 250; perfect play averages about 254, and the highest score possible, with a Yahtzee every turn, is 1,575.
Common questions about the rules
Does four of a kind score only the four dice?
No. Three of a kind and four of a kind both score all five dice added up, the odd die included.
Can a small straight have a pair in it?
Yes. 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 is a small straight: four in a row, and the fifth die can be anything.
Do I have to use all three rolls?
No. You can score after the first or second roll if you like what you have.
How often does a Yahtzee come up?
All five the same on one throw is 1 chance in 1,296. Keeping the most common number and rolling the rest twice more, a turn ends in a Yahtzee about 1 time in 22.
How is Yatzy different?
Yatzy, the Scandinavian game, has fifteen boxes: it adds One pair and Two pairs, makes the small straight exactly 1 to 5 (15 points) and the large straight 2 to 6 (20), scores a full house as the dice added up, gives a 50 bonus at 63, and has no Yahtzee bonus.
Tips
- Aim for three of each number in the upper boxes, and the 35 bonus follows. Fours, Fives and Sixes matter most.
- Hold pairs of high numbers early: they lead to Fives and Sixes, three and four of a kind, a full house and a Yahtzee.
- Chase straights with four in a row, not three: 2, 3, 4, 5 can be finished by a 1 or a 6.
- Keep Chance for a bad turn. Late in the game it saves you from a 0.
- Scratch wisely. A 0 in Ones costs little; a 0 in the Yahtzee box early gives up 50 and every bonus.
Yahtzee® is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. These are the published rules of the dice game; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro.