Yahtzee

YAHTZEE

Yahtzee was "invented" by a Canadian couple in 1956 who used to play a game with dice on their yacht. It was from that invention that it became Yahtzee.

Equipment:

The game of Yahtzee consists of just a few pieces. Each game comes with a plastic cup; five dice; score sheets; and pencil. There is no game board.
Object of the Game:

The winner of Yahtzee is the person who accumulates the most total points after filling out his/her entire scoring sheet. ( ME!!)

Playing the Game:

To start the game, each player rolls a single die. The person with the highest score goes first, followed by the other players in clockwise fashion (note: it really doesn't matter who goes first because everyone is permitted exactly the same number of turns. There is absolutely no advantage to the playing order). The player shakes up all five dice in the cup and then rolls them out on the flat surface.

The Yahtzee scoring sheet includes two sections and a total of 13 different scoring opportunities. A player must fill in all the spaces on the score sheet. The scoring options are: ones, twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, three of a kind, four of a kind, full house, small straight, large straight, Yahtzee, and chance (a miscellaneous score which is used when there is nothing else to use or when a certain strategy is being employed). After rolling the dice, the player then must decide which of the 13 scoring options to attempt. The player has two more rolls, and he/she can pick up any number of dice for these two rolls and shake them over again. The decision about which of the 13 scoring options to use can always be changed at any time. But after the third roll, the player has to fill in one of the spaces on the scoring sheet, even if it means accepting a low score.

Play continues until 13 rounds have been completed. If a turn results in a set of numbers that doesn't match any of the remaining scoring options, then the player must enter a zero in one of the open boxes. Once all boxes are filled (with either a score or a zero) the game is over and the players must add up the scoring totals and determine a winner.

Scoring:

Yahtzee is a fairly simple game to learn, but the scoring is critical to the outcome. When you first start the game, all 13 scoring spaces are available so it's very easy to select a space to enter a score. But each of the 13 spaces can only be used once, so it keeps getting more and more difficult to find an empty space to enter a score.

The ones, twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes at the top of the score sheet are scored by entering only the total amount of that particular number on the dice. What you have on the other dice is irrelevant. For example, lets say I'm going for my threes. I roll the five dice, and two 3's are rolled. I then pick up the other three dice and roll again, but get no 3's. I then pick them up again and this time I roll one 3, a 4, and a 2. My score in this case would be 9. It doesn't matter that the other two dice show a 4 and a 2. Since I was going for 3's, I only count the score for my 3's and nothing else.

The bottom half of the score sheet works differently with the scoring. If a player rolls three of a kind or four of a kind, he/she does get to count the total points on all five dice. A small straight (four numbers in sequence) is worth 30 points regardless of the numbers on the dice. A large straight (five numbers in sequence) is worth 40 points regardless of the numbers. A full house (three of one number, two of another) is worth 25 points. And a Yahtzee (all five dice showing the same number) is worth 50 points. With each one of these four types of scoring (full house, small straight, large straight, or Yahtzee) the score is a fixed amount. It doesn't matter what numbers you roll. Thus, a Yahtzee is worth 50 points whether you roll all 6's or all 1's. It doesn't make any difference.

There are two ways to score a bonus in Yahtzee. One way is by scoring at least 63 on the top half of the score card (where you have your ones, twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes). If you score 63 or better, you get to add 35 to your score on the top half. The other way to score a bonus is to roll multiple Yahtzees. The first Yahtzee is worth 50, but if you roll one, two, or three additional Yahtzees, you score a bonus of 100 points for each one.

If there is no way to score any points, you have to start entering zeroes in the remaining categories. You cannot skip a turn and try again. This usually happens near the end of the game, when it gets more and more difficult to score. For instance, if I have only two scoring categories left, like four of a kind and Yahtzee, then I have to get four of a kind or five of a kind (Yahtzee) on my next two remaining turns. If I fail to get one of these, then I have to enter a zero in a box. A player cannot go back and change this zero. So, if I entered a zero in my four of a kind box and then got four of a kind on my final turn, I could not change my four of a kind box. It would still have the zero, and so would my Yahtzee box for failing to get five of a kind on my last turn.

Strategy:

Skill and strategy are important components of the game of Yahtzee. Each time you roll, you must decide which of the thirteen scoring options to try for. As you fill in more and more spaces, there are fewer and fewer scoring options left to attempt. But even when there are many spaces available, you still must decide on how best to play your roll, and it's not always an easy decision.

For example, let's assume it's the start of the game and all 13 options are open. Now, let's say I take my three rolls and I end up with three 1's, a 3, and a 4 showing on the dice. I have three scoring options that I can use: ones, three of a kind, or chance. If I choose to fill in the box for 1's, my score will be 3. If I choose to fill in the box for three of a kind, my score will be 10. If I choose to fill in the box for chance, my score would also be 10.

A new player (someone who hasn't played Yahtzee very much) might be tempted to take the 10 points for three of a kind or for chance, because the point total would be greater than for taking the 3 points for the ones category. But this is actually not a good idea. The reason is because three of a kind allows you to total all of the dice for your score. Ones are low, so a score of 10 would be pretty bad for the three of a kind box. On the other hand, a score of 3 in the ones category is actually pretty normal. The only way to do better is to score 4 or 5, which is only one or two point better. And using the chance category is not a good idea until near the end of the game.

You need to keep this option open as long as you can. You have only one "chance" to use chance. Once filled, you have no other miscellaneous scoring options. That means that you could very well have to enter a zero in one or more categories at the end.

Another strategy to consider is with the bonus points at the top. You need to score 63 points or better on the top half of the scoring sheet to get the 35 point bonus. Let's imagine that the game is near its end and all I have left are three spaces: Yahtzee, three of a kind, and the fours category at the top.

A quick glance at the top shows that I have a total of 50 points. On my turn, I end up rolling three fours, a 5, and a 6. I could enter a score of 12 into the box at the top for my fours, but that would bring my total to only 62, which is one point shy of the score I need to get the bonus. In this case, I would be better off taking the score for the three of a kind (a total of 23, which is a good score for this) and then trying again to get at least four 4's for the fours category, because this is what I need to collect the bonus.

Getting this bonus can make a huge difference in the outcome of the game, so it should not be taken lightly.

Cost/Availability

The R R P for Yahtzee £9.99, but it's common to find it for around £4 - £5, it is available on Amazon from just over £2 .
It's also one of the easiest games to find, with most any department store and toy shops having copies available. I have even seen Yahtzee for sale in supermarkets.
You can buy replacement scoring pads from Amazon for £1.99

The small, compact box, measuring about 10 inches by 8 inches, makes it easy to fit a few in small spaces on store shelves. And its popularity and low price ensures that it will sell more easily than other board games.

Final Thoughts:

Yahtzee is one of the most popular games available today. Families, couples, kids, and adults all enjoy playing Yahtzee. It's easy to learn, requires a good amount of skill, but not too much, and it's inexpensive to buy. It can help younger kids learn to add and multiply, making it educational as well as challenging.

One of the many enjoyable things about Yahtzee is the fact that the strategy to win is always changing. What works for one game will not necessarily work the next time you play. There are so many different strategies that can be used. It's the type of skill that you develop with practice but even then, it still isn't foolproof. You still have no way of knowing if the strategy you used last time to win the game will work the next time around. And even when it looks like there is no chance of winning, a few good rolls of the dice can change everything.

Most of the time, if a player rolls a Yahtzee and no one else does, then he/she is likely to be the ultimate winner of the game. But this isn't always the case, and that's one of the many enjoyable facets of the game. If an opponent gets a Yahtzee and I don't (and this is very likely- the majority of players don't roll a Yahtzee), I can still win the game if I can outscore him/her in the other areas. Collecting the 35- point bonus at the top, along with a high- scoring three of a kind or four of a kind, can still make me the winner. With Yahtzee, you often don't know who is going to win or even where anyone stands until you tally up the scores. And some of the time, the winner is someone unexpected.

Yahtzee is a competitive game, but one nice thing is that it's not a revenge- oriented type of game (like Sorry, Trouble, Aggravation, etc.). With Yahtzee, it doesn't matter what your opponents do or how they roll. It has no bearing at all on your turn. You still get five dice and you still have the same number of chances to match their score. With revenge- type games, part of your strategy is to prevent your opponents from doing well. That's not the case with Yahtzee. Your score is based solely on your own efforts and no one else can add or take away from your progress.

Dice can easily be lost, but they are also easy to replace. The only things that take a little more effort to replace are the score sheets. These can be purchased separately at many stores. Or, if you know Yahtzee really well, you can makeup your own score sheets. Veterans of Yahtzee already know the point values involved with each of the scoring areas so they can easily get by without an official score sheet.

This game can be played on any flat surface. It's not a good idea to play on carpet (unless it's very flat) because the individual dice can end up tilted, causing players (especially younger ones) to argue and fight over which number to use. It's best to play on a table. Another idea (if no flat surface is available) is to use the cover of the box to shake the dice into. This is also a good idea for playing the game inside a car- kids can keep themselves busy playing Yahtzee without any worry about losing the dice.

Another nice thing about Yahtzee is that it doesn't take very long to play. It's not the type of game (like Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, and others) that can go on and on for hours. Since there is a limit on the number of rounds in the game of Yahtzee, there is also a limit on the time it takes to play. Even with four players, this game usually takes less than one hour to complete.

Overall, Yahtzee is one of my favorite games to play. It involves a little bit of luck with a certain degree of skill to pull off a victory. It can be enjoyed by people of all ages (except for the very young- they recommend that players be 8 or older), and it's one of the few simple games that never loses its charm. It can be played over and over again and still manage to keep players' interests thanks to the strategic element.

It always goes on holidays with us and even my young grandchildren love it, they just need a little help with the adding up - but it's all great education for them.

It's one of my favourite family games!

DETAILS

Item Weight: 499 g
Boxed-product Weight: 499 g
ASIN: B000NRWOOK

Go on give those dice a roll!!