🎲 How to play Yahtzee
By Miguel Arechaga
Yahtzee is the dice game par excellence: a perfect mix of luck and decision-making. You roll five dice, keep the ones you want, and choose where to score to squeeze the most out of every combination. Here are the rules and a few tips to score high.
What is Yahtzee?
It's a dice game where, over 13 turns, you try to complete different combinations with five dice to add up the highest possible score. You can play alone (beating your record) or against others.
Rules and how to play step by step
- Each turn you roll the five dice. You can keep any you like and re-roll the rest, up to a maximum of three rolls.
- Once you're satisfied, score the roll in one of the open categories.
- Each category is used only once: choose carefully where to score.
- The game ends once all 13 categories are filled.
The categories and the bonus
At the top are the numbers (ones, twos... sixes): you add up the dice of that value. If your total at the top reaches 63 or more, you earn a 35-point bonus. At the bottom are the combinations: three of a kind and four of a kind (sum all the dice), full house (25), small straight (30), large straight (40), Yahtzee or five of a kind (50), and chance (free sum).
Tips to score more
- Try to secure the upper bonus: aim for at least three dice per number (for example, three fives in the Fives category).
- Save the Chance slot for a bad roll that doesn't fit anywhere else.
- Don't waste your Yahtzee: if it doesn't come up, it's better to sacrifice a low-point category.
- Think about which categories you still have open before deciding which dice to keep.
🏆 Score ranking
Yahtzee has its own global ranking: your best total score for a game is saved. Go to Ranking, the 🕹️ 1 Player tab, choose "Yahtzee" from the dropdown, and compare your score with other players, synced to your account. For your result to count you need a free account on MundoSudoku (just a username and password, no email required): you can play without one, but without logging in your score won't be saved to the ranking.
