Yahtzee

The shake, score and shout game 2 or more players ages 8 and up

Do you know when Yahtzee was invented? 1954. Do you know why it’s called Yahtzee? It’s because the Canadian couple who created it were on their yacht when they pulled five dice out and created a new game. It was originally called just Yacht but changed into Yahtzee along the way.

The Object of Yahtzee

The object of the game is to get the highest score by filling in the score card with the highest dice rolls you can for each line.

Playing

On each turn, a player has three turns to roll the five dice to get the best score possible for their score sheet.

The Score sheet

Yahtzee rules are pretty easy to play. All you really need is the score sheet and five dice. The score sheet explains what to roll for and how to score.

You can download your free score sheet from our fun library here.

The upper section is the easiest. The goal is to roll as many of the numbers from 1 to 6.

The lower section is a little trickier. There are spots for 3 and 4 of a kind. The full house is two of one number and three of another. Also, there are spots for a small straight—four dice in a sequence—and a large straight—5 dice in sequence. And of course there is the Yahtzee—all five dice being the same number.

There is a bonus space for any extra Yahtzees that are rolled—assuming that the Yahtzee isn’t zeroed out.

Zeroing Out

If after three dice rolls, a player has no spaces available that fit what has been rolled, the player then player has two choices. First, the chance space lets you add up all dice and score that amount. If the chance space is filled, then a player must choose a space to mark as a score of 0.

Winning Yahtzee

The player who has the highest grand total after all 13 turns wins.

What We Like

Yahtzee is the first dice game that I remember ever playing. It’s a classic. It involves more than just luck with some thought and strategy behind your moves. You can play with any number of people and it makes a good one player game—just try to beat your high score.

Lastly, let’s face it yelling “Yahtzee!” is fun. It’s a fun word and a big accomplishment when you actually roll it!

What We Don’t Like

Despite Yahtzee being a classic game, I have to admit that I don’t care very much for it. The problem, I think, is that it takes too long for players to take their turns. Every time you roll the dice you have to look at your score sheet, see what’s available, look at the dice decide what to keep, what to roll—every time you roll the dice. If you’re playing any more than a two player game, you lose interest by the time that the third person is playing.

Next, there is a lot of math. After a long game, the last thing I want to do is wait around to tally all the scores and see who won.

Lastly, the score pad that comes with the game is small, making all that math harder, especially if you have large handwriting like I do. Of course, our score sheet is larger so this solves this problem.

Conclusion

Yahtzee has opened the door for so many different dice games. It also comes with 5 dice to play not only Yahtzee with but lots of over games. If your kids are older or you’re looking for a longer two player game, download your score sheet and give it a try. Otherwise, I would say buy some dice (there are some great colored dice to make things fun) and visit our dice section to see what other game to add to your Family Game Shelf.

Get your 5 dice copy of Yahtzee here. Canadians can buy Yahtzee here. There are lots of variations of Yahtzee to choose from—hand held, junior, backyard, Spam, National parks; check them out here.

To download your free scoresheet, visit our fun library.

For more family game night ideas visit our dice, card and game review sections.