Yatzy Dice Game Rules

Five dice, a Yatzy pad and a pen is the whole shopping list. A cup is optional, since the dice roll fine straight onto the table.

Without a pad, draw the sheet yourself. Fifteen rows down the page and one column per player: ones, twos, threes, fours, fives and sixes at the top, then a line for the sum and one for the bonus, and below that one pair, two pairs, three of a kind, four of a kind, small straight, large straight, full house, chance and Yatzy. The total goes at the very bottom.

A pad has room for six players, and the game works alone as well. Highest roll on a single die starts, and the dice go round to the left after that.

Your turn opens with all five dice. Pick out the ones you want to keep, roll the rest again, and do that once more if you like. Two rerolls means three rolls in all, and stopping sooner is fine when the dice already suit a row.

When the rolling stops, something goes into one of your open rows. Which row and in what order is up to you, and no row is used twice. If nothing fits, a number still has to be written, so put a zero in whichever row you can most afford to lose.

Fifteen rows, fifteen rounds. Once every sheet is full the game is done.

The sheet falls in two halves. Six number rows at the top, nine combination rows below, and the bonus line between them.

Everything on the sheet is counted in pips. Even the straights pay no more than the dice show, which is where the 15 and the 20 come from: 1+2+3+4+5 and 2+3+4+5+6. Yatzy is the only row with a fixed score.

Most rolls fit several rows, and picking between them is the game. A roll of 2, 2, 5, 5 and 5 takes 19 in full house, 15 in fives, 15 in three of a kind, 14 in two pairs, 10 in one pair, 4 in twos or 19 in chance. The other eight rows would pay nothing.

Get the six number rows to 63 or more and 50 points go on your total. 63 is three of every number: three ones, three twos and so on up to three sixes.

The counting is friendlier than it looks. Four sixes puts 24 in that row against a target of 18, so you are 6 up. Two fives later gives 10 against 15, which is 5 down, and you are still 1 ahead overall. Plenty of players keep a running note in the margin of how many pips they are up or down.

A zero in one of the six rows does not rule the bonus out, as long as the other five make up the difference. 50 points is a whole Yatzy, so it is worth chasing from the very first roll.

The rows in the lower section do not all count five dice.

One pair is two dice alike, and only those two are added up. Roll 5, 5, 4, 4 and 2 and the row pays 10, not 18. With more than one pair on the table, the higher pair is the one that counts.

Two pairs has to be two pairs of different numbers, and the four dice involved are added together. The same roll pays 18 here, and the 2 counts for nothing.

Three of a kind and four of a kind count the matching dice only. Roll 6, 6, 6, 6 and 2 and four of a kind pays 24 while three of a kind pays 18, with the 2 adding nothing to either.

A full house means three of one number together with a pair of another, and the row pays every one of the five dice. 4-4-4-6-6 comes to 24, and the best full house on the sheet, three sixes and two fives, pays 28. Five of a kind is not a full house here, so that row is closed to a Yatzy.

Yatzy itself is five dice alike and pays 50 whatever the number. Roll five alike again after the row has gone and you get no credit for it, but the dice still have to be written down somewhere and scored the normal way. Five sixes pay 12 in one pair, 18 in three of a kind, 24 in four of a kind, 30 in sixes or chance, and nothing at all in two pairs, full house and the two straights.

The first roll comes up 3, 3, 6, 6 and 1. Two pairs would take it for 18 right away, but the game has barely started and the sixes look more tempting.

So the two 6s stay on the table while the other three go again, coming up 6, 4 and 2. Three sixes is 18 in the sixes row, exactly the target if 63 is the plan.

One roll left, and the 4 and the 2 go back in. Another 6 makes 24 in sixes and puts you 6 up on the bonus. A pair of 3s leaves 6-6-6-3-3 in front of you: a full house worth 24, two pairs worth 18, or the same 18 in sixes. Anything in between, and you take the sixes and pass the dice along.

With the last row filled, the adding up begins. Each player totals the six number rows, adds the bonus if they earned it, totals the nine rows below and puts the two halves together. The highest score wins.

A flawless sheet comes to 374: 105 from the number rows, 50 for the bonus, 12 in one pair, 22 in two pairs, 18 in three of a kind, 24 in four of a kind, 15 and 20 for the straights, 28 in full house, 30 in chance and 50 for the Yatzy. Level scores at the top either share the win or go to another game.

These rules cover free Yatzy, the Nordic sheet with five dice and fifteen rows. The upper section bonus is 50 points at 63, every row except Yatzy pays the pips on the dice, and there is no joker rule and no credit for a second five of a kind. Forced Yatzy is described at the bottom of the page.