Short, exact answers to the questions people really ask about Farkle. Farkle is a folk game, so scores vary from table to table: every scoring answer gives the common value first and names the alternatives. Each answer has its own link, so you can send a friend straight to it.
Farkle is a push-your-luck dice game: you roll six dice, set aside the ones that score, and decide whether to stop and keep your points or roll again and risk losing them. It is a folk game, so the rules and scores vary from family to family.
A Farkle is a roll in which no die scores. You lose every point you collected on that turn, and the dice pass to the next player. Points already written on the score sheet are safe.
No 1s, no 5s, no three of a kind: a Farkle.
Six ordinary six-sided dice, plus pen and paper (or a score pad) to keep score. Some people play an older version with five dice.
Two or more. There is no fixed upper limit; with lots of players a game just takes longer.
On your turn, roll all six dice. Set aside at least one scoring die, then either stop and bank your points or roll the dice that are left. Keep going until you stop or roll a Farkle (nothing scores), which wipes out that turn's points. Then the dice pass to the left.
The usual target is 10,000. When someone reaches it, every other player gets one last turn to beat that total, and the highest score wins. Some tables pick a lower target for a shorter game.
Yes, more or less. Farkle is one name for a family of games. Ten Thousand, Dix Mille, Zilch, Greed, Hot Dice and Zonk are other names for the same game or close relatives, with small differences in scoring.
Yes. The five-dice version is said to be the original, and it is sometimes called Hot Dice. With five dice you cannot score three pairs, since that needs six dice.
Yes. If none of your six dice score on your first roll, that is a Farkle and your turn ends with nothing. It is rare: about 2 first rolls in 100 (see the odds below). A few tables give a bonus (500) for a six-dice roll with no score instead.
No. You must set aside at least one scoring die after each roll, but you can roll the other scoring dice again. Some tables play that all scoring dice must be set aside, so agree it first.
As many times as you like, as long as every roll scores. Your turn ends only when you choose to stop and bank your points, or when you roll a Farkle.
If all six dice have scored, you have hot dice: pick all six up and roll again, adding to the same turn's total. The points are not yet safe: a Farkle on the next roll still loses the whole turn. There is no limit to how many times you can get hot dice.
All six dice score: hot dice, roll all six again.
No. A scoring set must come up in a single roll. If you set aside one 5 and later roll two more 5s, that is three single 5s (150), not three 5s (500).
On the Patch Products sheet, yes: your first banked turn must be worth at least 500. After that you can stop whenever you like. Many home games skip this rule, and some use 1,000 instead. Agree it before you start.
In the basic rules, nothing extra: each Farkle just scores 0. Many tables add a penalty: the Elverson Puzzle sheet takes away 1,000 points for three Farkles in a row, and others take away 500.
Only some dice score. Each 1 is 100 and each 5 is 50. Three of a kind is the number times 100 (three 4s are 400), except three 1s. Six-dice combinations like three pairs and a 1 to 6 straight score more. A lone 2, 3, 4 or 6 scores nothing.
Most tables score three 1s as 1,000. But tables vary: the Patch Products sheet and Pocket Farkel score them as only 300, the same as three 3s. Check which rule your group uses.
Three 1s: usually 1,000; 300 on the Patch and Pocket Farkel sheets.
The number on the dice times 100: three 2s are 200, three 3s 300, three 4s 400, three 5s 500 and three 6s 600. Three 1s are the exception (usually 1,000).
Three 4s: 400.
On the Patch Products sheet, any four of a kind is a flat 1,000, including four 1s. Tables vary: some double the three-of-a-kind score for each extra die (four 1s become 2,000), and some add it again (four 2s become 400).
Four 1s: 1,000 on the Patch sheet, 2,000 where tables double.
On the Patch Products sheet, five of a kind is 2,000 and six of a kind is 3,000. Tables vary a lot here: doubling tables score five 1s as 4,000 and six 1s as 8,000, some pay 10,000 for six of a kind, and some say six of a kind wins the game outright.
The Patch Products and Elverson Puzzle sheets score three pairs as 1,500. Tables vary: other common values are 750 and 2,000. Three pairs need all six dice in one roll, so they also give you hot dice.
Three pairs: 1,500 on the Patch and Elverson sheets.
A straight is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in one roll of all six dice. The Patch Products sheet scores it 1,500. Tables vary: 1,000, 2,500 and 3,000 are also used.
A 1 to 6 straight: 1,500 on the Patch sheet.
Not in the Patch Products rules. A five-die run (1 to 5 or 2 to 6) is a house rule, usually worth 500. Without it, a 1 to 5 run scores only its 1 and 5 (150).
On the Patch Products and Elverson Puzzle sheets, two triplets in one roll (two different three-of-a-kinds) score 2,500. Some tables pay 3,000. Where your table has no such combination, you just add the two triples together.
Two triplets: 2,500 on the Patch and Elverson sheets.
On the Patch Products sheet, four of a kind plus a pair in one roll is 1,500. In the basic folk scoring there is no such combination: you score the four of a kind (1,000) and the pair only counts if it is 1s or 5s.
Four of a kind and a pair: 1,500.
Not in the Patch Products rules. You score the three of a kind, and the pair counts only if it is 1s or 5s. Some tables add a full house bonus: the three-of-a-kind value plus 250 (three 4s and two 3s make 650).
It depends on how many dice you roll. The chance of a Farkle is about 2 in 100 with six dice, 8 in 100 with five, 16 in 100 with four, 28 in 100 with three, 44 in 100 with two and 67 in 100 (2 in 3) with one.
With all six dice the chance is 5 in 216, about 2.3%, or roughly 1 roll in 43. If your table does not score three pairs, it rises to about 3.1%.
16 in 36, about 44%. Each die misses (no 1 or 5) 4 times in 6, and both must miss. With one die left the chance of a Farkle is 2 in 3, so you have only a 1 in 3 chance of hot dice.
On one roll of six dice, 1 in 7,776 (about 0.013%). There are six ways to roll it (all 1s, all 2s and so on) out of 46,656 possible rolls.
Every answer on this page was checked against the sources below, and against our own step-by-step guide.
