Dice Games Online: Yatzy, Pig, Farkle and Dice Board Games
Updated
Dice games online come in three main kinds. In scoring games such as Yatzy you roll five dice up to three times and fill a score sheet; in board games such as backgammon, ludo and snakes and ladders the roll moves your pieces; and in arcade and puzzle games the dice drive merges, battles or a race for a flag. Below are the short rules of the classics, then games from the catalog for each kind.
| Kind | What the dice do | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring games | The roll earns points | Yatzy, Pig, Farkle |
| Board games | The roll says how far your pieces move | Backgammon, ludo, snakes and ladders |
| Arcade and puzzle | Dice summon units, merge or decide a move | Dice merge, dice battles |
Yatzy: five dice, three rolls, one score sheet
Yatzy, most popular in the Nordic countries, is close to Yacht and to the commercial game Yahtzee. The rules below follow the Wikipedia article on Yatzy.
- On your turn, roll all five dice.
- Keep any dice you like and reroll the rest. You may do this twice, so a turn has at most three rolls.
- Write a score in one empty box of the sheet, or a zero if the dice fit nothing you still need.
- Each box is used once. When every box is filled, the highest total wins.
The upper section has six boxes, Ones to Sixes, each scored as the sum of the dice showing that number. Reach 63 or more in the upper section, which is three of each number on average, and you get a 50-point bonus.
| Lower box | What you need | Score |
|---|---|---|
| One Pair | Two dice the same | Sum of the pair |
| Two Pairs | Two different pairs | Sum of both pairs |
| Three of a Kind | Three dice the same | Sum of those three |
| Four of a Kind | Four dice the same | Sum of those four |
| Small Straight | 1-2-3-4-5 | 15 |
| Large Straight | 2-3-4-5-6 | 20 |
| Full House | Three of one number and a pair of another | Sum of all dice |
| Chance | Anything | Sum of all dice |
| Yatzy | All five dice the same | 50 |
How Yahtzee scoring differs
If you learned the game as Yahtzee, the sheet looks familiar but scores differently. The upper bonus is 35, there are no pair boxes, and three and four of a kind score the total of all five dice. A full house is a fixed 25, a small straight is any four dice in a row for 30, and a large straight is five in a row for 40.
Yatzy scoring tips
- One roll can fit several boxes. A roll of 2-2-5-5-5 scores 19 as Full House or Chance, 15 as Fives or Three of a Kind, 14 as Two Pairs and 10 as One Pair.
- Aim for three of each number in the upper section; that alone reaches the 63 needed for the bonus.
- Keep Chance free for a high roll that fits nowhere else.
- Late in the game, a zero in a box you will probably never fill, such as Yatzy, can save a better box for the next turn.
The two Yatzy games in the catalog play by the same idea. In Yatzy Yams Classic Edition you throw all your dice or only some of them each turn to make combinations, and Yatzy Yams lets you practice in a solo mode before a multiplayer game. Check the score sheet in the game for the boxes and values it uses.
Pig: one die and one decision
Pig needs a single die and a pencil.
- On your turn, roll the die as many times as you like, adding each number to your turn total.
- Roll a 1 and you lose the whole turn total; your turn ends.
- Choose to hold and the turn total goes onto your score.
- The first player to reach 100 wins.
The whole game is one choice: roll again or hold. A popular rule of thumb is to hold once your turn total reaches 20. Researchers who computed optimal play found that holding at 25 does a little better.
Farkle: six dice and plenty of house rules
Farkle is a folk game, so scoring changes from table to table; agree on it before you start. The common core:
- Throw all six dice.
- Set aside at least one scoring die, then bank your points or throw the remaining dice.
- Score with all six dice and you have hot dice: throw all six again and keep adding.
- If a throw has no scoring dice, you farkle and lose every point from that turn.
- Play usually goes to 10,000. When someone gets there, each other player has one last turn to beat that score.
| Dice in one throw | Points |
|---|---|
| Single 1 | 100 |
| Single 5 | 50 |
| Three 1s | 1,000 |
| Three 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s or 6s | 100 times the number, so three 4s score 400 |
Many groups also score straights, three pairs or four of a kind, and some ask for 500 or 1,000 points before your first bank. Combinations count only when they come up in a single throw.
Dice board games: the roll moves your pieces
- Backgammon: you roll two dice and move your checkers by each number, and a double is played four times. The full rules are in how to play backgammon.
- Ludo: you roll one die, you need a six to bring a token out, and a six gives you another roll. See how to play ludo.
- Snakes and ladders: roll one die and move your token along numbered squares; a ladder lifts you up and a snake drops you down. The board is usually 8×8, 10×10 or 12×12, and in some versions you need the exact number to land on the last square.
- Dice chess: a chess game where the dice decide which pieces you can move each turn.
In the catalog, Backgammonia plays classic backgammon against the computer or a friend. Snake and Ladders Multiplayer has three modes: multiplayer, a game against the computer, and a friend on the same device. Mini Dice Chess is the chess variant where a roll picks your pieces, and Ludo Maximus plays offline against computer opponents.
More games played on a board, from chess to dominoes, are in board games online.
Arcade and puzzle games built on dice
- DiceCraft is a merge puzzle: join three or more dice with the same number in any direction to make a higher die, and the game ends when no merge is left.
- Dice and Flag moves your character by dice rolls as you push into the other side's territory to capture its flag.
- Stick Roll Arena has you tap to roll; each roll summons stickmen who try to push the enemy team out of the arena in a one-on-one battle.
- Dice Push sends your stickmen to shove a green wall to the other side, and you throw dice to knock out enemy members.
- Dice Pixel Stealer 3D turns each dice launch into stickmen; collect more than half of the pixel picture to win.
- Roll Dice Mob Control grows your crowd with every roll as it passes through gates toward the enemy base.
For more games to share with a friend, see 2-player games and multiplayer games.
Common questions about dice games
Which dice games use five dice?
Yatzy, Yacht and Yahtzee, along with related games such as the Latin American Generala and poker dice. In each you build combinations from five dice.
Which dice games use six dice?
Farkle uses six dice, though some versions play with five. Maxi Yatzy is a Yatzy variant with six dice and extra boxes such as Three Pairs and a 100-point Maxi Yatzy.
What dice games can two people play online?
Backgammon is the classic dice game for two, and Backgammonia offers a two-player mode. Snake and Ladders Multiplayer lets two friends share one device, and Yatzy Yams has a multiplayer mode.
Every dice game comes back to the same question: what to keep, what to risk, and when to stop rolling.
