How many dice do you need for Yahtzee?
Five dice. The boxed game comes with five dice, a dice cup, a score pad and ten bonus chips, but any five ordinary dice and a pencil and paper will do.
Five dice: all you roll in Yahtzee.
Yahtzee, every question answered
Short, exact answers to the questions people really ask about Yahtzee. Each answer has its own link, so you can send a friend straight to it.
Getting started
7 answersHow many people can play Yahtzee?
One or more. The official box says "1 or More Players", so it works for two, for a whole table, or on your own. Each player keeps their own column on the score card.
Can you play Yahtzee by yourself?
Yes. The official rules include solo play: play all 13 turns on your own and try to beat your previous best score.
Who goes first in Yahtzee?
Each player rolls all five dice once. The player with the highest total goes first, and play then passes to the left.
How do you play Yahtzee?
On your turn you roll the five dice up to three times, keeping any you like between rolls. Then you write a score, or a 0, in one of the 13 boxes on your score card. When everyone has filled all 13 boxes, the highest total wins.
How many rolls do you get in Yahtzee?
Up to three rolls a turn. Roll all five dice first. Then you may re-roll any or all of them, even dice you kept before, a second and a third time. You can also stop and score after the first or second roll.
Does a Yahtzee have to be in one roll?
No. You can build it over your three rolls: keep the dice that match and re-roll the others. Five of a kind after any of your rolls counts.
The score card
10 answersWhat are the categories in Yahtzee?
There are 13 boxes in two parts. The upper section has Aces (ones), Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives and Sixes. The lower section has 3 of a Kind, 4 of a Kind, Full House, Small Straight, Large Straight, Yahtzee and Chance. Each box is filled once per game.
How does the upper section score?
Add up only the dice showing that box's number. With 2, 3, 3, 3, 4 you could score 9 in Threes, 2 in Twos or 4 in Fours.
9 in Threes, 2 in Twos or 4 in Fours.
What is the upper section bonus in Yahtzee?
If your six upper boxes add up to 63 or more, you get a 35-point bonus. 63 is three of each number, but any mix that reaches 63 earns it, so four 6s can make up for only two 1s.
How do you score 3 of a kind and 4 of a kind?
You need at least three (or four) dice showing the same number, and then you score the total of all five dice, not only the matching ones. Three 5s with a 2 and a 1 is 18.
5+5+5+2+1 = 18 in 3 of a Kind.
What is a full house in Yahtzee?
Three of one number and two of another, for example 3, 3, 3, 5, 5. Any full house scores a flat 25 points, whatever the numbers.
Three 3s and two 5s: a full house, 25 points.
Is a Yahtzee a full house?
Not normally. The official rule says a full house is three of one number and two of another, so five of the same number does not qualify. The only exception is the joker rule: an extra Yahtzee can be scored as a full house for 25 when its matching upper box is already filled. Some families let any Yahtzee count as a full house as a house rule.
What is a small straight in Yahtzee?
Four numbers in a row: 1-2-3-4, 2-3-4-5 or 3-4-5-6. The fifth die can be anything. It scores 30 points.
2-3-4-5 and any fifth die: 30 points.
What is a large straight in Yahtzee?
Five numbers in a row: 1-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-6. It scores 40 points. A large straight also contains four in a row, so you may score it in the Small Straight box for 30 instead.
2-3-4-5-6: a large straight, 40 points.
What is chance in Yahtzee?
Chance takes any roll and scores the total of all five dice. It is a safety box for a turn that fits nothing else, so you do not have to write a 0.
What does scratch mean in Yahtzee? Can you score a zero?
Yes. You must fill a box every turn, so if your dice fit nothing you want, you write a 0 in any empty box. Players call this a scratch. You can scratch any box, the Yahtzee box included, but a 0 there means you can never earn a Yahtzee bonus that game.
Yahtzees and the joker rule
7 answersWhat is a Yahtzee in Yahtzee?
A Yahtzee is five dice showing the same number (five of a kind). Your first one in the Yahtzee box scores 50 points.
Five 1s: a Yahtzee, 50 points.
What happens if you roll a second Yahtzee?
If you already scored 50 in the Yahtzee box, you get a 100-point Yahtzee bonus (take a bonus chip or put a check in the bonus box). You then still fill one box, using the joker rules. If you scratched the Yahtzee box with a 0, there is no bonus, but you still use the joker rules.
How many Yahtzees can you get in one game?
There is no limit. Every extra Yahtzee earns another 100-point bonus, as long as your Yahtzee box holds a 50. With 13 turns that means at most 13 Yahtzees: one for 50 and twelve bonuses.
What are the Yahtzee joker rules?
With an extra Yahtzee, go in this order. 1: if the matching upper box is empty (Fours for five 4s), you must score it there. 2: if that is filled, score in any open lower box, and full house, small and large straight count in full (25, 30, 40). 3: if those are all filled too, write a 0 in an open upper box.
Five 4s with Fours already used: score them anywhere in the lower section.
Can a Yahtzee be used as a large straight?
Only as a joker: when it is an extra Yahtzee and its matching upper box is already filled. Then you may put it in the Large Straight box for the full 40 points (or Small Straight for 30, Full House for 25). The official example: five 4s, Fours already used, scored as a 40-point large straight.
Do you roll again after getting a Yahtzee?
No. A Yahtzee does not give you an extra turn. You score it (and take any 100-point bonus), fill one box, and your turn is over.
What are the chips for in Yahtzee?
The chips count Yahtzee bonuses. Each time you earn a 100-point bonus you take one chip and put a check in the Yahtzee bonus box. At the end, each check is worth 100 points.
Winning and odds
4 answersHow does Yahtzee end, and how do you add up the score?
The game ends when every player has filled all 13 boxes. Add the upper section, plus 35 if it reached 63. Add the lower section, plus 100 for each Yahtzee bonus check. The highest grand total wins. The official rules do not say what happens in a tie.
What is the highest possible score in Yahtzee?
1,575, which needs 13 Yahtzees in 13 turns and the joker rules. In real play, a computer-solved best strategy averages about 255 points a game.
What are the odds of rolling a Yahtzee?
On a single roll of five dice, 1 in 1,296 (about 0.08%). Using all three rolls and keeping your most common number each time, it is about 4.6%, or roughly once every 22 turns.
What is the difference between Yahtzee and Yatzy (or Yacht)?
Yatzy, popular in Scandinavia, adds One Pair and Two Pairs boxes, pays a 50-point upper bonus, scores most boxes by the dice shown, has fixed straights (1-2-3-4-5 for 15, 2-3-4-5-6 for 20) and has no Yahtzee bonus or joker. Yacht is the older game Yahtzee came from: it had five-dice straights only and no upper bonus.
Where these answers come from
Every answer on this page was checked against the sources below, and against our own step-by-step guide.
