Yahtzee is a dice version of the poker card game. Each player rolls five dice, chooses which dice to keep, and keeps rolling for the best "hand." Points are scored by filling in the hand you feel is best suited for your roll. Each hand can only be used once, and the game ends when all hands are filled. The player with the most points wins.
How to Play Yahtzee:
Each player gets three rolls each turn. After each roll, you can keep any die/dice you want, and reroll the rest. (You don't have to reroll. Sometimes you'll get the hand you want in the first or second roll.) The order of the dice in the roll doesn't matter. A (3,1,3,4,2) is the same as (1,2,3,3,4) or a (4,3,2,3,1), etc.
Each player can only score points once for each hand per game. You can put any roll into any hand, but if the roll doesn't fit the criterea of the hand, you score a zero for that slot. The hands are:
Ones, Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, Sixes:
These make up the top half of the score sheet. For each one, you want the most 1's, 2's, 3's, etc. You score the sum of all dice of that value. ie., if your roll is (6,3,3,4,3), you may want to put the roll into the "Threes" slot. This would give you 9 points.
You may find that, near the end of the game, you've run out of slots and you just can't roll the number need. For example, if "Twos" is the only slot left open, the roll above would score "0", as there are no twos.
Top Total:
You can't put any rolls into this slot on the score sheet. It's simply the sum of the top half: all the scores for Ones, Twos, etc.
Bonus:
This isn't an actual hand, in that you can put a roll in this slot. When you've scored 63 or more points for the "Top Total" (the sum of all Ones, Twos, Threes, etc.), you get a bonus of 35 points. Like the regular hands, this is a one-time score.
Three of a Kind:
If you have three or more matching dice, ie. (2,3,4,4,4), you score the sum of all dice in the roll.
Four of a Kind:
Similar to the Three of a Kind, except you need four matching dice. This score is also the sum of all dice.
Full House:
Like poker's Full House, you need both a pair and a three of a kind. ie. (2,2,5,5,5) or (3,4,4,3,4). A Full House scores 25 points.
Small Straight:
For a Small Straight, you need a run of four dice in ascending order. ie. (1,2,3,4,2) will do, as will a (2,3,4,5,6), or a (1,3,2,2,4) since the order of the dice doesn't matter. A Small Straight scores 30 points.
Large Straight:
For a Large Straight, you need a run of five dice in ascending order. The only two possible Large Straights are: (1,2,3,4,5) and (2,3,4,5,6). Again, the order of the dice doesn't matter. The Large Straight scores 40 points.
Yahtzee:
For this hand, every single die must match. A Five of a Kind, in other words. This is the hardest hand to achieve, hence it scores 50 points.
Chance:
There's no criterea for this hand. Many times you'll roll garbage, or you'll be trying for a Yahtzee and you just don't make it. Throw the roll here if you can't find a better place. It scores the sum of all dice.
Low Total:
This is not a hand, but the sum of all "Low" scores. (Three of a Kinds to Chance)
Grand Total:
This is also not a hand, but the sum of the "Top" and "Low" scores, plus the "Bonus" if there is any. The highest Grand Total possible in Yahtzee is 375. If you've scored over 200 points, that's a pretty good game. If you've scored over 300, then you're a pro.
Read "How to Use Yahtzee" for help on using this program.
