Yahtzee Rules
Yahtzee belongs to a family of dice games built around one satisfying loop: roll a handful of dice, hold the ones you like, re-roll the rest, then score the result in one box of a scorecard - once per category, no take-backs. What changes between games is everything else: how many dice you throw, which combinations count, whether a straight pays a fixed prize or the sum of its pips, and how generous the bonuses are for a well-built upper section.
This page collects the rules for every game on Yahtzee.now. Each section covers the scorecard, the scoring, and the details that trip up new players - with a link to jump straight into a game. If you're brand new, start with Yahtzee (the classic), try the Nordic favourite Yatzy, or go straight to Maxi Yatzy if you want six dice and the deepest scorecard in the family.
💡 New to dice games? Every game below shares the same core idea - three rolls, hold what helps, score one category. Learn one and the rest come quickly.
Every dice game at a glance
Skim the whole family first, then jump to the full rules for any game below.
| Game | Dice | Rolls | Categories | Difficulty | Good score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yahtzee | 5 | 3 | 13 | Easy to learn | 250+ |
| Triple | 5 | 3 | 13 | Hard | 750+ |
| Yacht | 5 | 3 | 12 | Easy | 150+ |
| Yatzy | 5 | 3 | 15 | Easy | 200+ |
| Maxi | 6 | 3 | 20 | Medium | 300+ |
| Generala | 5 | 3 | 11 | Medium | 150+ |
| Kismet | 5 | 3 | 15 | Medium | 300+ |
| Balut | 5 | 3 | 7 | Hard | 350+ |
Classic Games
Yahtzee
5 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 13 categories · Easy to learn
Yahtzee is the world's most popular dice game - Five dice, up to three rolls per turn, and a scorecard of thirteen categories that you must fill exactly once each. After every roll you choose which dice to keep and which to throw again, then commit the result to a category: the six number rows of the upper section, or the combination rows below - three and four of a kind, full house, the straights, chance, and the almighty five-of-a-kind Yahtzee worth 50 points. The genius of the game is that every turn is a small exercise in probability and risk: chase the 35-point upper bonus, gamble on the big straight, or bank a safe Chance before the dice go cold. Luck deals the rolls, but the scorecard decisions are all skill.
Roll five dice
Start each turn by rolling all five dice. You get up to three rolls per turn, and the game lasts 13 turns - one for every category on the scorecard.
Hold and re-roll
After the first and second roll, hold any dice you want to keep and re-roll the rest. You can change your mind and release held dice between rolls.
Score one category
After your third roll - or earlier if you like what you see - score the dice in exactly one open category. If nothing fits, you must take a zero somewhere.
Chase the bonuses
Score 63 or more on Aces through Sixes - an average of three of each face - for a 35-point bonus. Five of a kind is a Yahtzee worth 50, and every extra Yahtzee adds 100 more.
Triple Yahtzee
5 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 13 categories · Hard
Triple Yahtzee plays the classic thirteen-category scorecard three times over in a single game. Every turn you roll as usual, then commit the result to any open cell in any of three columns - but the first column scores at face value, the second doubles, and the third triples. That one change transforms the game: a Yahtzee in the x3 column is 150 points, an upper bonus there is worth 105, and every mediocre roll becomes a routing problem. Where do you hide a bad turn? Which column gets the hot dice? With thirty-nine cells to fill, Triple Yahtzee is a long, deeply strategic session - the variant for players who find one scorecard too small.
Play three columns at once
The scorecard holds the 13 Yahtzee categories in three columns - 39 cells in all. Column one scores at face value, column two doubles every entry, column three triples it.
Roll as usual
Each turn plays exactly like Yahtzee: roll five dice up to three times, holding whatever you like between rolls.
Pick a category and a column
Score every result in any open cell. The skill is placement - bury weak rolls in the times-one column and protect the times-three column for your best dice.
Triple the payoffs
Each column earns its own upper bonus at 63 or more, multiplied like everything else, and a Yahtzee in the times-three column is worth 150 points on its own.
Yacht
5 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 12 categories · Easy
Yacht is the game Yahtzee came from - published in 1938 and named for the yachting set who played it. The chassis is familiar: five dice, three rolls, choose which dice to keep. But the scorecard is leaner and stricter. There are twelve categories instead of thirteen, no upper bonus, no extra-Yacht bonus and no joker rules. Both straights - Little (1-2-3-4-5) and Big (2-3-4-5-6) - are worth a flat 30 and must be exact. Full House scores the sum of the dice rather than a fixed 25, and Four of a Kind counts only the four matching dice. Playing Yacht after Yahtzee is like driving a classic car: same joy, fewer assists, and every point honestly earned.
Roll five dice
Yacht is the 1938 original the whole family grew from. Roll five dice up to three times per turn, holding any dice you want between rolls.
Fill twelve categories
The card has 12 categories: Ones through Sixes, Little Straight and Big Straight (30 points each), Full House, Four of a Kind, Choice, and Yacht itself.
Score without a safety net
There is no upper bonus and no five-of-a-kind bonus - every box is scored once, at face value, and a zero hurts exactly as much as it should.
Aim for the Yacht
Five of a kind is a Yacht, worth a flat 50 points. With no bonuses to inflate the card, 150 or more is a genuinely strong game.
Nordic Yatzy Games
Yatzy
5 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 15 categories · Easy
Yatzy is the public-domain dice game every Scandinavian grows up with - the same five-dice, three-roll engine as Yahtzee, but a friendlier and in places trickier scorecard of fifteen categories. The additions are the pair rows: One Pair scores your highest pair, Two Pairs needs two different pairs. The straights are fixed runs - Small is exactly 1-2-3-4-5 for 15 points, Large exactly 2-3-4-5-6 for 20 - and the Full House scores the sum of its dice. Three and Four of a Kind count only the matching dice. Reach 63 in the upper section and the bonus is a fat 50 points. It's cosier than its trademarked cousin, quicker to teach, and the pair rows give even a cold turn somewhere useful to go.
Roll five dice
Yatzy is the Nordic take: five dice, up to three rolls per turn, and 15 categories instead of Yahtzee's 13.
Fill the upper section
Ones through Sixes work just like Yahtzee, but the reward is bigger - score 63 or more and the bonus is 50 points instead of 35.
Learn the Nordic categories
The lower section adds One Pair and Two Pairs, and scores by pips: the Small Straight 1-2-3-4-5 is exactly 15, the Large Straight 2-3-4-5-6 is 20, and a Full House scores the sum of all five dice.
Finish with a Yatzy
Five of a kind is a Yatzy worth 50 points. Across 15 rounds with a 50-point bonus in play, a total over 200 is a solid game.
Maxi Yatzy
6 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 20 categories · Medium
Maxi Yatzy is Yatzy scaled up: six dice instead of five, and a twenty-category scorecard that exploits every combination the extra die makes possible. Alongside the familiar rows you get Three Pairs, a Full Straight (1 through 6 for 21 points), the Villa (two triples) and the Tower (four of a kind plus a pair). The upper bonus grows to 100 points at a threshold of 84, and six of a kind - the Maxi Yatzy itself - pays 100. More dice means more hits, but also more ways to waste a good roll: with twenty rows open, every turn is a genuine puzzle about which of four or five decent scores to actually take.
Roll six dice
Maxi Yatzy scales everything up: six dice, up to three rolls per turn, and a 20-category scorecard.
Aim for the big bonus
The upper section pays 100 points for a total of 84 or more - an average of four of each face - which makes it the single biggest swing on the card.
Master the six-dice combinations
The extra die unlocks new categories: Three Pairs, Villa (two three-of-a-kinds), Tower (four of a kind plus a pair), and the Full Straight 1-2-3-4-5-6 worth 21.
Chase the Maxi Yatzy
Six of a kind is a Maxi Yatzy worth 100 points. With 20 boxes to fill, knowing where to hide a bad turn matters more here than in any other variant.
World Variants Games
Generala
5 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 11 categories · Medium
Generala is the Yacht family's South American branch, the café and cup-and-dice game of Argentina, Uruguay and much of Latin America. Five dice, three rolls, eleven categories - the six number rows plus Escalera (straight, 20 points), Full (30), Poker (four of a kind, 40), Generala (five of a kind, 50) and Double Generala (100). Its signature rule is the 'servida': make a combination on your very first throw of the turn and it scores a 5-point premium - and in the traditional tabletop game, a served Generala simply wins on the spot. There's no upper bonus and no chance row; Generala is lean, fast and dramatic, built around the thrill of the single perfect throw.
Roll five dice
Generala is South America's beloved version - five dice, up to three rolls per turn, and a lean 11-category card that plays fast.
Score the combinations
Beyond Ones through Sixes, the card pays fixed prizes: Escalera (a straight) 20, Full 30, Poker (four of a kind) 40, and Generala (five of a kind) 50.
Serve it for a bonus
Land a combination on your very first roll of the turn and it is servida - served - which is worth an extra 5 points on top.
Double up
A second five of a kind fills the Double Generala box for 100 points - the biggest single entry anywhere in the dice-game family.
Kismet
5 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 15 categories · Medium
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.
Roll the coloured dice
Kismet uses five coloured dice: the 1s and 6s are black, the 2s and 5s are red, and the 3s and 4s are green. You still get up to three rolls per turn.
Use the colours
Colour opens new categories - a Flush, all five dice showing one colour, scores 35 points, and colour-matched full houses pay a premium over plain ones.
Climb the graduated bonus
The upper-section bonus grows with your total: 35 points at 63-70, 55 points at 71-77, and a full 75 points at 78 or more.
Land a Kismet
Five of a kind is a Kismet, the card's crowning category. Stack it on a strong upper section and 300 or more is well within reach.
Balut
5 dice · 3 rolls per turn · 7 categories · Hard
Balut is the Yacht family's long-distance runner - a Danish-Filipino game, born among expats in Manila after World War II and named after the local delicacy. The card has just seven categories - Fours, Fives, Sixes, Straight, Full House, Choice and the five-of-a-kind Balut - but every one of them must be scored four times, for a 28-turn game. There are no one-off jackpots to hide behind: to score well you must hit full houses and straights again and again, and four empty Balut cells loom over every game. It's the variant that measures consistency rather than luck, which is exactly why its fans (and its official world championship in Copenhagen) take it so seriously.
Roll five dice
Balut - big in Denmark and the Philippines, and named after a Filipino delicacy - uses five dice and up to three rolls per turn.
Score every category four times
The card has just 7 categories - Fours, Fives, Sixes, Straight, Full House, Choice, and Balut - but each must be filled four times, for 28 scoring rounds.
Manage the long game
With four cells per category you cannot dodge a weak category forever. Deciding when to burn a bad roll, and where, is the heart of Balut.
Bank the Baluts
A Balut is five of a kind. Strong category totals earn extra points at the end of the game, and 350 or more marks a well-played card.
A few terms that apply everywhere
Upper section
The Ones-through-Sixes half of the scorecard, where you score the total pips of one face. Fill it well and the bonus follows - 35 points at 63+ in Yahtzee, 50 in Yatzy, up to 100 in Maxi Yatzy.
Lower section
The combination half - straights, full houses, three and four of a kind, and the five-of-a-kind jackpot. Some games pay fixed prizes here, others pay the sum of the dice.
Hold & re-roll
Between rolls you set aside the dice you want to keep and throw the rest again. Holds are never locked in - you can release a held die before the next roll if your plan changes.
Scratch (zero)
Entering a zero in a category you cannot fill. Every game forces a scratch sooner or later - the skill is choosing the box that costs you least, usually Aces or the riskiest jackpot.
Ready to put the rules to work? Try today's Daily Challenge, race a friend in Multiplayer, or check the FAQ for common questions about Yahtzee in general.
Yahtzee rules FAQ
How do you play Yahtzee?
Each turn you roll five dice up to three times, holding the dice you want to keep between rolls. After your last roll you score the result in one of 13 categories on the scorecard - each category can be used only once. After 13 rounds every box is filled and the highest total wins. Score 63 or more in the upper section for a 35-point bonus, and five of a kind is a Yahtzee worth 50 points.
What is the goal of Yahtzee?
Fill all 13 categories for the highest possible total. The two big targets are the upper-section bonus - 35 points for scoring 63 or more on Aces through Sixes, which works out to an average of three of each face - and the 50-point Yahtzee, with a 100-point bonus for every extra Yahtzee after the first.
What is a good Yahtzee score?
Anything over 250 is a good game, 300 or more is excellent, and the theoretical maximum is 1,575 - a run of thirteen Yahtzees that nobody has any business expecting. An optimal computer player averages around 254 over the long run.
What are the odds of rolling a Yahtzee?
Five of a kind in a single throw is a 1 in 1,296 shot - about 0.08 percent. Played well across all three rolls of a turn, holding your biggest matching group each time, the chance rises to roughly 4.6 percent, or about one turn in 22.
What is the difference between Yahtzee and Yatzy?
Yatzy is the Nordic version. It has 15 categories instead of 13, adding One Pair and Two Pairs, and it scores combinations by their pips: the Small Straight 1-2-3-4-5 is exactly 15, the Large Straight 2-3-4-5-6 is 20, and a Full House scores the sum of all five dice. The upper bonus is 50 points instead of 35.
Want more answers? See the full Yahtzee FAQ (40+ questions) or look up any term in the glossary.