Yahtzee

Overview

Roll five dice up to three times per turn and bank the result in one of thirteen boxes. Thirteen rounds, then the highest total wins.

Checked against Hasbro's Yahtzee Classic instructions (C2406, ©2016). A 2026 edition (G2662) renames the upper and lower sections Number Combos and Special Combos; the rules are otherwise the same except where noted below.

1. Starting

Each player rolls one die. The highest roller starts, and play goes to the left. Everyone gets 13 turns.

2. A turn

1. Roll all five dice.
2. Set aside any you want to keep and re-roll the rest, or re-roll them all.
3. You may roll a third time, including dice you set aside earlier.
4. Fill in one empty box in your column.

You must fill in a box every turn. If nothing fits, you must enter a zero somewhere. Once a box is filled it can't be used again.

3. Upper section (Number Combos)

Box	Score
Aces (ones)	Sum of all 1s
Twos	Sum of all 2s
Threes	Sum of all 3s
Fours	Sum of all 4s
Fives	Sum of all 5s
Sixes	Sum of all 6s

Score 63 or more here and you get a 35-point bonus. That's three of each number.

4. Lower section (Special Combos)

Box	You need	Score
Three of a kind	Three the same	Total of all five dice
Four of a kind	Four the same	Total of all five dice
Full house	Three of a kind and a pair	25
Small straight	Four in a row	30
Large straight	Five in a row	40
Yahtzee	Five the same	50
Chance	Anything	Total of all five dice

5. Extra Yahtzees

If you roll another Yahtzee after scoring 50 in the Yahtzee box, you get a Yahtzee bonus of 100 points, and you also fill in a box, in this order:

1. The matching upper-section box, scoring the total of the five dice.
2. If that's full, three of a kind or four of a kind, scoring the total.
3. If those are full too, Chance or any other lower-section box, scored as normal: a full house counts 25, a small straight 30, a large straight 40, even though five of a kind isn't literally a straight.
4. The 2026 edition adds: if none of those is possible, score 0 in an upper box of your choice.

If you have already scored zero in the Yahtzee box, there's no bonus, but you still fill in a box this way.

The 2016 instructions give the bonus as 100 points. The 2026 instructions say to colour in a bonus box and don't print a value in the text.

6. The odds of one roll

Counting all 7,776 ways five dice can land:

In a single roll	Chance
Yahtzee	6 ways: 1 in 1,296
Large straight	240 ways: about 1 in 32

The highest possible score is 1,575: thirteen Yahtzees, filling every box at its maximum, with twelve 100-point bonuses and the upper bonus.

7. Hasbro's tips

• Some boxes are harder to fill than others, so expect to enter a zero at some point.
• Balance the upper and lower sections.
• Save Chance for late in the game.
• Avoid a zero in the Yahtzee box, or you lose the chance of the bonus.

Commonly argued

• Three and four of a kind score all five dice, not just the matching ones.
• You may re-roll dice you set aside earlier.
• A small straight is four in a row, and scores 30.
• An extra Yahtzee can fill a straight or full house at full value, but only once the matching upper box and the three and four of a kind boxes are full.
• The upper bonus needs 63, and is worth 35.
• A zero in the Yahtzee box kills the bonus, not the extra Yahtzee itself.