how to play

How to Play Yard Dice: Yardzee, Farkle & Scoring Guide

Yard dice is just five or six oversized wooden dice, but it carries two of the best dice games ever made: Yardzee, which is giant Yahtzee, and Farkle, the press-your-luck classic. You roll the dice into a circle or a bag-lid tray on the grass, chase combos like three of a kind, a full house, and the big-money five of a kind, and tally it on a scorecard. I have run this at cookouts and weddings, and it always pulls a crowd because anyone can play and the math is easy to learn. Here is the full setup, both rule sets, and a scoring section thorough enough to settle every backyard argument.

1 to 8 (more with teams) PLAYERS AGES 8+ 2 min SETUP A small flat patch, about 4 by 4 ft
Gear check

What you need

  • Five large wooden dice for Yardzee (a six-die set covers Farkle too)
  • A scorecard or printable sheet, plus a pen
  • A rolling area: a hula hoop, a bag, or a flat patch of grass to keep dice from scattering
  • Two or more players, though it plays fine solo against a target score
  • A flat surface so the dice land clean and read true
The playbook

How to play yard dice: yardzee, farkle & scoring guide

  1. Pick your gameDecide up front whether you are playing Yardzee (giant Yahtzee, best with five dice) or Farkle (press-your-luck, best with six dice). The dice are the same. Only the scoring and the goal change.
  2. Set a rolling areaDrop a hula hoop on the grass or roll into the storage bag's lid so the dice do not scatter across the yard. Big dice bounce, so a contained area keeps every roll fair and easy to read.
  3. Yardzee: roll, keep, rerollOn your turn you get up to three rolls. Roll all five dice, set aside the ones you want to keep, then reroll the rest. You can pull kept dice back in and reroll them on later rolls. After your third roll you must score the result in one open category.
  4. Yardzee: fill every boxThere are thirteen scoring categories on the card. Each turn you fill exactly one of them, even if it means taking a zero in a box you cannot make. The game ends when every player has filled all thirteen boxes, and the highest total wins.
  5. Farkle: roll for combosIn Farkle you roll all six dice and set aside any scoring dice (1s, 5s, and combos). You may stop and bank what you have, or reroll the remaining dice to add more. If a roll produces no scoring dice at all, you Farkle, lose everything unbanked that turn, and pass.
  6. Farkle: hot dice and the raceIf all six dice score in one turn you get hot dice: reroll all six and keep building. Play to a target, usually 10,000 points. The first player to cross it triggers one final round for everyone else, then the highest score wins.
Keeping score

Scoring

  • YARDZEE (giant Yahtzee), five dice, score one category per turn:
  • Upper section, Ones through Sixes: score the sum of dice showing that number (four 3s in the Threes box = 12)
  • Upper bonus: if your six upper-section boxes total 63 or more, add a 35-point bonus
  • Three of a Kind: three or more dice the same, score the total of all five dice
  • Four of a Kind: four or more dice the same, score the total of all five dice
  • Full House: three of one number and two of another, score 25
  • Small Straight: four dice in a run (1-2-3-4, 2-3-4-5, or 3-4-5-6), score 30
  • Large Straight: five dice in a run (1-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-6), score 40
  • Yardzee (five of a kind): all five dice the same, score 50
  • Chance: score the total of all five dice, used as a catch-all for a bad roll
  • Bonus Yardzee: a second five-of-a-kind after you have already scored a 50 is worth an extra 100 points (house rule, agree before you start)
  • FARKLE, six dice, bank scoring dice or risk it for more:
  • Single 1: 100 points each
  • Single 5: 50 points each (2s, 3s, 4s, and 6s score nothing on their own)
  • Three 1s: 1,000 points
  • Three of any other number: 100 times that number (three 4s = 400, three 6s = 600)
  • Four of a kind: 1,000 points
  • Five of a kind: 2,000 points
  • Six of a kind: 3,000 points
  • Straight (1-2-3-4-5-6 across all six dice): 1,500 points
  • Three pairs: 1,500 points
  • Farkle (a roll with no scoring dice): you lose every unbanked point from that turn
  • You must usually open your scoring with a single turn of 500 or more before you can start banking (a common house rule, agree on it first)
Set it up right

Distance & setup

set it up rightThere is no throwing distance like a pin or toss game. You roll the dice into a contained area so they do not scatter, then read the faces. A hula hoop laid flat, a storage bag, or the bag's lid all work as a roll tray, and a roughly 4 by 4 ft flat patch is plenty. Keep the rolling spot on level ground so dice do not tumble down a slope and so every face reads clean.
House rules

Fun variations

  • Yardzee (giant Yahtzee): five dice, thirteen categories, three rolls a turn, highest total wins. The standard backyard game.
  • Farkle: six dice, press your luck, bank or bust, first to 10,000 wins. The best version for a competitive adult crowd.
  • Teams: split into pairs and alternate rolls, adding scores together. Great for big cookouts where everyone wants in.
  • Quick game: lower the Farkle target to 5,000, or play Yardzee with only the upper section for a fast kids round.
The rulebook desk

Yard Dice: Yardzee, Farkle & Scoring Guide rules FAQ

What is the difference between Yardzee and Farkle?

They use the same big dice but play differently. Yardzee is giant Yahtzee: five dice, three rolls per turn, and thirteen fixed categories you fill in to chase the highest total. Farkle is a press-your-luck game with six dice where you bank scoring dice or risk a reroll, racing to a target like 10,000 points.

How many dice do you need for yard dice?

Yardzee uses five dice and Farkle uses six. Most yard dice sets come with five or six oversized dice, so if you want to play both games comfortably, look for a six-die set. With five dice you can still play Farkle by rolling the same five.

How do you score a full house in Yardzee?

A full house is three dice of one number and two of another, like three 5s and two 2s. It is worth a flat 25 points in the full house box, no matter which numbers make it up. If you already used your full house box, you can take the roll as Chance instead.

What does it mean to Farkle?

You Farkle when a roll produces no scoring dice at all, meaning no 1s, no 5s, and no combos. When that happens you lose every point you had set aside but not yet banked that turn, and your turn ends immediately. That risk is the whole tension of the game.

What is a Yardzee worth?

Rolling all five dice the same is a Yardzee, the giant version of a Yahtzee, and it scores 50 points in that box. Many groups play a bonus rule where a second Yardzee after the first is worth an extra 100 points. Agree on the bonus before you start so there is no argument later.

Do you have to roll three times in Yardzee?

No, three rolls is the maximum, not a requirement. You can stop after the first or second roll if you already have a result you want to score. Once you keep a die you can still pull it back and reroll it on a later roll within the same turn.

grab a set

Ready to play?

Grab a set and start your league this weekend. We ranked the best yard dice: yardzee, farkle & scoring guide sets for every budget.

See our top yard dice: yardzee, farkle & scoring guide picks → Printable rules card