Kismet

How to Play Kismet

In a nutshell: The 1964 challenger - Colored dice, a Flush row and a graduated bonus. You play with 5 dice and up to 3 rolls a turn across 15 scoring cells. It's rated medium, and a good game scores 300+; the color rows and sum-plus-premium scoring run totals high.

Kismet is the 1964 'deluxe' challenger to Yahtzee, instantly recognizable by its colored pips: 1s and 6s are black, 2s and 5s are red, 3s and 4s are green. Color creates categories no other family member has - the Flush (all five dice one color, 35 points) and the Full House Same Color (20 plus the dice). Most lower rows pay a premium on top of the dice sum: Full House is 15 plus the sum, Four of a Kind 25 plus, and the five-of-a-kind Kismet a mighty 50 plus. The upper section sports a graduated bonus - 35, 55 or 75 points as your total climbs from 63 through 71 to 78. The result is a lusher, higher-scoring, slightly flashier Yahtzee where the dice themselves are part of the puzzle.

Kismet at a glance

Goal	Fill all fifteen categories, one per turn, for the highest total. Dice are colored: 1 & 6 black, 2 & 5 red, 3 & 4 green.
Dice	5 six-sided dice, up to 3 rolls per turn
Categories	15
Difficulty	Medium
Good score	300+
Family	World Variants

Step by step

History of Kismet

Kismet was published in 1964 by Lakeside Industries as a direct, deluxe answer to Yahtzee's mid-60s boom. Its designers differentiated the game with one physical stroke - colored pips - and let the new dimension generate categories no plain-dice game could offer.

The graduated bonus and the premium-plus-sum scoring were equally deliberate: Kismet games end with bigger numbers, more late swings and a stronger comeback dynamic than its rival. Marketed as 'the modern game of yacht dice', it carved out a loyal audience without ever threatening the trademark giant.

Kismet has remained in continuous production for six decades - a cult classic whose colored dice still get mistaken for a gimmick right up until the first Flush lands for 35.

How to Win at Kismet: Strategy

💡 Top tip: The graduated bonus rewrites upper-section math: 78+ pays 75 points, so overloading Fives and Sixes pays double dividends.

Winning tips, in order of importance

1. Remember the color pairings (1-6, 2-5, 3-4): a 2-2-5-5 hand is already four-fifths of a red Flush.
2. Premium scoring makes high dice count twice - a 6-6-6-2-2 Full House scores 37, a 2-2-2-6-6 only 33... chase the big triple.
3. The Flush (35 flat) is livelier than it looks: any three same-color dice after roll one make it a legitimate target.
4. Kismet at 50-plus-sum (up to 80 points) is the family's richest five-of-a-kind - protect the row longer than you would in Yahtzee.
5. Yarborough is Chance with a fancier name: bank your biggest homeless roll there, not your first mediocre one.

Advanced tactics for Kismet

1. Color constraints halve the odds of the same-color rows versus their plain cousins - fill the plain Full House first and keep the color version for a served hand.
2. The three bonus tiers create checkpoint play: crossing 71 mid-game justifies pure upper-chasing even at the cost of a lower-row zero.
3. Since 1s and 6s share black, a junk 1 in hand still serves a black Flush draw - the colors quietly change which 'garbage' dice are worth holding.
4. Sum-plus-premium rows mean late-game re-rolls for higher pips (not new combinations) are often correct - a made Four of a Kind of threes is worth improving.

Common Kismet mistakes to avoid

• Ignoring the color pairs - 1-6 black, 2-5 red, 3-4 green means a junk 1 can still be four-fifths of a black Flush.
• Stopping at the first bonus tier - 78+ upper points pays 75 instead of 35, so a hot upper section is worth pressing.
• Filling Full House Same Color first - it is twice as rare as the plain house, so score the easy version and keep the color row for a served hand.
• Re-rolling for new combinations instead of higher pips - most lower rows add the dice sum to a premium, so improving a made hand is real points.

Kismet Variations

Basic Kismet

House play that drops the color rows for a plain fifteen-row card.

Kismet 200

A shortened race format - first player past 200 wins.

Yahtzee hybrid

Kismet dice on a Yahtzee card, keeping the Flush as a fourteenth row.

Kismet FAQ

Still have a question about Kismet? Browse the full Yahtzee FAQ, look up a term in the Yahtzee glossary, print a score sheet for game night, or compare Kismet with the other games in the rules for every dice game.

Last updated 2026-07-03.