Yahtzee scoring rules
Yahtzee is thirteen rounds and thirteen boxes. Each turn you roll five dice, may re-roll any of them twice, then must write a score in one box — and once a box is used it is closed for the rest of the game.
The sheet has two halves. The upper section is about collecting one number; the lower is about making combinations.
Keep score while you read
Upper section
Six boxes, one per die face. Each scores the sum of the dice showing that number: three fours in the Fours box is 12.
- Reach 63 or more across the six boxes and you earn a +35 bonus.
- 63 is what three of each number comes to, which makes it a useful target to hold in your head.
Lower section
- Three of a kind: the sum of all five dice.
- Four of a kind: the sum of all five dice.
- Full house — three of one, two of another: 25 points, flat.
- Small straight — four in a row: 30 points, flat.
- Large straight — five in a row: 40 points, flat.
- Yahtzee — all five the same: 50 points.
- Chance: the sum of all five dice, whatever they are. The dumping ground for a bad roll.
The Yahtzee bonus and forced zeros
Roll a second Yahtzee after scoring 50 in the box and most tables award a further 100 points. If the box was already scored as zero, the bonus does not apply.
Because you must use a box every turn, a bad round means writing a zero somewhere. Choosing which box to sacrifice, and when, is most of the game.
Frequently asked questions
Score 63 or more in the upper section — the six boxes for ones through sixes taken together. That is what three of each number adds up to, so banking three of a kind in most of those boxes gets you there.
With the Yahtzee bonus in play, 1575. Without it, the practical ceiling is 375. Neither number comes up in a real game.
Yes. Nothing forces you into the matching box: a full house may go in Three of a Kind, in an upper box, or in Chance. What you cannot do is score the same roll in two boxes.
Yes — five in a row contains four in a row, so it can be scored as a small straight for 30 if the large straight box is already used.