Setup
Give each player a column with the thirteen boxes plus the Yahtzee bonus box. Anyone rolls to decide who starts, and play goes clockwise. One session is one complete pass down every column.
How to play
On your turn, roll all five dice. You may set any dice aside and reroll the rest, then set aside again and reroll once more, for a maximum of three rolls. Dice put aside can be picked back up for a later reroll; only the third roll is final. Then write the result into exactly one empty box.
Every turn must fill a box. If nothing scores, choose a box and write 0 in it. The game is over when all thirteen boxes are full.
Scoring
Upper section. Aces through Sixes each score the total of the dice showing that number only, so three fours in Fours is 12. If the six upper boxes add up to 63 or more, add a 35 point bonus. The threshold is exactly what three of each number yields, so a spare fourth die anywhere upstairs buys slack elsewhere.
Lower section.
| Box | Requirement | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Three of a kind | Three or more matching | Total of all five dice |
| Four of a kind | Four or more matching | Total of all five dice |
| Full house | Three of one, two of another | 25 flat |
| Small straight | Four in sequence | 30 flat |
| Large straight | Five in sequence | 40 flat |
| Yahtzee | Five matching | 50 flat |
| Chance | Anything | Total of all five dice |
The two of-a-kind boxes are the ones people get wrong: they score every die, including the two that do not match.
Extra Yahtzees. Once the Yahtzee box holds 50, every further Yahtzee adds 100 to the bonus box. If the Yahtzee box was scored 0, no bonus is ever paid. Under joker rules an extra Yahtzee must first go in its own upper box if that is free; if not, it may fill any open lower box, with Full House worth 25, Small Straight 30 and Large Straight 40 even though the dice are not really those shapes.
Grand total is the upper total, including its bonus, plus every lower box and the Yahtzee bonus. The theoretical maximum with joker rules is 1575: 140 upstairs, 235 downstairs, and 1200 from twelve extra Yahtzees.
Ending the game
After thirteen turns each, the highest grand total wins. Ties stand as ties.
The bonus box counts as a box on the sheet, so a player who rolled no extra Yahtzee still writes 0 in it. Leave it blank and the app treats that column as unfinished.
Common variations
Several sheets are printed with three or six columns and rules about which column a roll may go into. Some groups drop the Yahtzee bonus altogether, and a few play strictly top to bottom, which removes almost all the tactics and roughly halves typical scores.
Scoring at a glance
| Who wins | Highest score |
|---|---|
| Rounds | 13 fixed |
| Score sheet | Fixed categories, each filled once, with bonuses |
| Typical round score | 0 – 50 |
| Negative scores | Never — scores only go up |
| Worth knowing | Every box may be scored 0 if the roll does not fit. Fixed-value boxes are all-or-nothing; the of-a-kind boxes and Chance take the sum of all five dice. The bonus box holds points, not a count — 100 for one extra Yahtzee, 200 for two — and takes a 0 when there were none. |
Yahtzee — score sheet
Worked example
Settings: default — Upper bonus needs63, Upper bonus worth35, Each extra Yahtzee is worth100, Games on one sheet1. Players: Anna, Ben. Both sheets are complete.
| Box | Section | Anna | Ben |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aces | upper | 3 | 2 |
| Twos | upper | 8 | 6 |
| Threes | upper | 9 | 9 |
| Fours | upper | 12 | 12 |
| Fives | upper | 20 | 15 |
| Sixes | upper | 18 | 18 |
| Upper sum | derived | 70 | 62 |
| Upper bonus | derived | 35 | 0 |
| Upper total | derived | 105 | 62 |
| Three of a kind | lower | 24 | 22 |
| Four of a kind | lower | 23 | 0 |
| Full house | lower | 25 | 25 |
| Small straight | lower | 30 | 30 |
| Large straight | lower | 40 | 0 |
| Yahtzee | lower | 50 | 0 |
| Chance | lower | 23 | 21 |
| Yahtzee bonus | bonus | 100 | 0 |
| Lower total | derived | 315 | 98 |
| Grand total | derived | 420 | 160 |
Anna's 24 in Three of a kind is a roll of 6-6-6-4-2, and her 23 in Four of a kind is 5-5-5-5-3. Her bonus box holds one extra Yahtzee at 100. Ben scratched Four of a kind, Large straight and Yahtzee.
Expected standings: Anna 420, rank 1 — winner; Ben 160, rank 2. the game is over, because every declared box is filled on both sheets.
Tools for Yahtzee
Set up the way this game wants them.
House rules and settings
Every table plays Yahtzee a little differently. These are the 8 rules groups argue about. Each one is a setting in the app — and changing it recalculates a match that is already in progress, which is the thing no other score keeper does.
Upper bonus needs: what is the default in Yahtzee?
The upper section subtotal that earns the bonus. The standard 63 is what you get from three of each number.
Default: 63. Adjustable from 0 to 105 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Upper bonus needs”.
Upper bonus worth: what is the default in Yahtzee?
Points added once the upper section subtotal reaches the threshold.
Default: 35. Adjustable from 0 to 100 in steps of 5.
In the app: “Upper bonus worth”.
Each extra Yahtzee is worth: what is the default in Yahtzee?
Points added for every Yahtzee rolled after the first one, provided the first was scored 50. Set to 0 to switch the bonus off.
Default: 100. Adjustable from 0 to 200 in steps of 25.
In the app: “Each extra Yahtzee is worth”.
Joker rules: on or off in Yahtzee?
Lets an extra Yahtzee be written into any free lower box at that box's full value, once its matching number box upstairs is already used. Without this, an extra Yahtzee can only go where it genuinely fits.
Default: on.
In the app: “Joker rules”.
Fill boxes in order: on or off in Yahtzee?
Forces players to work strictly down the sheet from Aces to Chance instead of choosing freely. A much harsher game.
Default: off.
In the app: “Fill boxes in order”.
Must zero a box when nothing fits: on or off in Yahtzee?
Every turn has to end with something written down. If no box can be scored, the player picks one and writes 0 in it. Switching this off is not standard but suits younger players.
Default: on.
In the app: “Must zero a box when nothing fits”.
Games on one sheet: what is the default in Yahtzee?
How many complete scorecards each player fills in this session.
Default: 1. Adjustable from 1 to 6 in steps of 1.
In the app: “Games on one sheet”.
Add columns together: on or off in Yahtzee?
With more than one game on the sheet, decide whether the winner is the best single column or the best combined total.
Default: on.
In the app: “Add columns together”.
Variants of Yahtzee
Kniffel
The German edition. Same thirteen boxes and same numbers, different names, and traditionally played across several columns with different filling restrictions.
Triple Yahtzee
Three columns played at once, with the second column doubled and the third tripled. One roll can be written into any of the three.
Solo Yahtzee
One player chasing a personal best. The app keeps the running high score rather than a winner.
Yahtzee is also known as
Yacht, Kniffel, Generala. These are the same game — the rules and the score sheet above apply to all of them.
Keep score offline
The sheet above works in your browser. Cardzo for iPhone remembers your players, survives a closed tab, and works in a field with no signal.