Home >> Games & Cards >> Kids Games

Yahtzee Tips

"Yahtzee" is a game of chance and strategy where players roll five dice and try to come up with specific combinations of numbers. Players roll the dice twice per turn, saving dice from the first roll and scoring after the second roll. Different number combinations give different scores based on each combination's relative probability. Players score each number combination only once, and the player with the highest score at the end of 13 turns is the winner.

Upper Section
- A "Yahtzee" scorecard is divided into an upper and lower section. To score in the upper section, you must roll multiples of a given number. Do your best to fill the upper section with high scores near the beginning of the game. If you can get 63 points, you will get the accompanying 35 point bonus. To get a total of 63 points in the top section, you must roll three of each of numbers 1 through 6. If you roll poorly, fill in small numbers if you must, but make up for it later with the larger numbers.
Lower Section
- The lower section of the scorecard consists of specific combinations of dice including a full house, three and four of a kind and a small and large straight. You will increase your chance of winning if your three or four of a kind rolls are larger numbers. However, you can use small numbers to work toward a full house or a small or large straight since the point values for these combinations are predetermined. If you do not make your combination, put the score toward some of the smaller numbers in the upper section.
Chance Box
- Avoid using the Chance box early in the game. Do not fill in the Chance box with a low number unless you have no other scoring option. This can happen if you are going for a high-value combination and fail. By saving your Chance box until near the end of the game, you leave yourself a place to put a lower score if you do not successfully roll a difficult combination.
Yahtzee
- It's a yahtzee if all five dice show the same number.
  
  A Yahtzee happens when you roll the same number on all five dice. It is worth 50 points, and a second Yahtzee in the same game is worth 100 points. A Yahtzee or two can win the game for you. If you find yourself without a place on your scorecard to put a low value, you may be forced to zero out your Yahtzee space. Try for a Yahtzee early in the game if you roll three or four of any one number. This way, even if you do not get a Yahtzee, you still have spaces in the upper or lower sections of the scorecard to put those numbers.

Kids Games