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Yard Dice Rules Card

A one-page yard dice rules card: how to play, how to score, and how to set it up. Hit print, fold it, and keep it with your set. Want the full walkthrough? See the Yard Dice rules.

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Yard Dice

rules card
Players1 to 8 (more with teams)
Ages8+
Setup2 min
SpaceA small flat patch, about 4 by 4 ft

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

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)

How to play

  1. Pick your game. Decide 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 area. Drop 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, reroll. On 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 box. There 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 combos. In 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 race. If 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.

Set it up

There 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.