Section 1: Introduction
Yahtzee is a dice game in which players roll five dice up to three times a turn, then commit the result to one of thirteen boxes on a scorecard. Each box may be used exactly once, so the real decision is rarely what to roll — it is which box to spend.
The game was published in 1956 and is owned by Hasbro. Like UNO, it has no governing body — no federation issues its rules or sanctions competition — so it is catalogued here as a community entry despite being commercially published.
What this page is. An independent description of play, not a reproduction of Hasbro's rule sheet. The publisher's own rules are linked above and are authoritative where the two differ. Its public-domain ancestor Yacht uses much the same structure with a simpler scorecard.
Section 2: Components
- Five six-sided dice.
- A scorecard per player, with an upper and lower section.
- A cup for rolling (optional).
Section 3: Setup
- Each player takes a scorecard. Any number can play; the game is also perfectly playable solo.
- Highest single roll goes first; play passes clockwise.
- The game lasts exactly thirteen rounds — one per scorecard box.
Section 4: Gameplay
A Turn
- Roll all five dice.
- Set aside any you want to keep and reroll the rest.
- Repeat once more — three rolls maximum per turn.
- Enter a score in exactly one box. You may stop rolling early, and you may re-include previously set-aside dice in a reroll.
The Forced Zero
You must fill a box every turn. If nothing fits, you are forced to enter zero somewhere — usually a high-value box you have given up on. Managing which box you will eventually sacrifice is most of the game's skill.
Section 5: Scoring & Winning
Upper Section
Six boxes — Aces through Sixes — each scoring the sum of dice showing that number. Score 63 or more across the upper section and earn a 35-point bonus, which is roughly three of each number.
Lower Section
- Three of a kind: sum of all five dice
- Four of a kind: sum of all five dice
- Full house (three + two): 25 points
- Small straight (four consecutive): 30 points
- Large straight (five consecutive): 40 points
- Yahtzee (five of a kind): 50 points
- Chance: sum of all five dice, always legal
Yahtzee Bonus
A second or later Yahtzee, once the Yahtzee box is filled with 50, scores a 100-point bonus and may then be used as a joker in another box. If the Yahtzee box holds a zero, no bonus applies.
Highest total after thirteen rounds wins.
Section 6: Variants & House Rules
- Yacht: the public-domain ancestor — same three-roll structure, simpler scorecard, no bonuses.
- Triple Yahtzee: three scorecards played simultaneously, with column multipliers.
- Solitaire Yahtzee: the same game played alone against a target score.
- Generala, Kismet, Yatzy: regional relatives with different category sets and bonuses.
- Free joker: a common house rule loosening where a bonus Yahtzee may be scored.