Yardzee (Yard Dice) Rules
- Players
- 1 to 8 (more with teams)
- Ages
- 8+
- Setup time
- 2 min
- Space
- A small flat patch, about 4 by 4 ft
What you need
- Five dice
- One 13-category scorecard per player and a pencil
- A level rolling area or tray where all five dice can be read
Set it up
No throwing distance is required. Keep the dice in a clear rolling area and agree who starts. Take turns in the same order.
Scoring
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Ones | Add all 1s |
| Twos | Add all 2s |
| Threes | Add all 3s |
| Fours | Add all 4s |
| Fives | Add all 5s |
| Sixes | Add all 6s |
| Three of a Kind | At least 3 alike: add all dice |
| Four of a Kind | At least 4 alike: add all dice |
| Full House | 3 of one number + 2 of another: 25 |
| Small Straight | 4 consecutive numbers: 30 |
| Large Straight | 5 consecutive numbers: 40 |
| Yardzee | All 5 alike: 50 |
| Chance | Any roll: add all dice |
- Upper bonus: add 35 if the six upper categories total at least 63.
- Extra Yardzees: each further five-of-a-kind earns 100 only if your original Yardzee box holds 50. Record it separately and include it once in the lower total.
- Joker: when your Yardzee box is already filled, put a further five-of-a-kind in its matching upper category if open. Otherwise choose any open lower category; Full House and straights score their fixed 25, 30 or 40. If the lower section is full, put 0 in an open upper box. An original Yardzee score of 0 prevents the extra 100, but not Joker scoring.
How to play
- Roll up to three times. Roll all five dice. Keep any you want and reroll the rest, up to twice more. You may reroll previously kept dice. You can stop after any roll.
- Fill one category. After your last roll, score one unused category. Each category can be used only once. Enter 0 if your dice do not meet the chosen category’s requirements.
- Finish all 13 turns. Once everyone has filled all 13 categories, add the upper total including its bonus to the lower total including extra Yardzee bonuses. Highest grand total wins.