Yacht Dice
Roll five dice, keep the best ones and fill your score card.
How to play Yacht Dice
Yacht is a classic game with five dice and a score card. Each player gets 12 turns. In every turn you roll the dice, keep the ones you like and fill one box on your card. After 12 turns each, the higher total wins.
Goal
Score as many points as you can. Each box on the card can be used only once, so you must decide where each roll fits best.
Turn by turn
- Press Roll to throw all five dice.
- Tap the dice you want to keep. Held dice are lifted and marked. Tap again to let one go.
- Roll again. Only the dice you did not hold are thrown. You may roll up to three times in total, and you can stop at any time.
- Pick one empty box on your score card. The card shows what each box would score with your dice right now. If nothing fits, you must still fill a box, and it scores 0.
The 12 boxes
- Ones to Sixes: add up only the dice that show that number. Four 5s in Fives score 20.
- Bonus: if your six top boxes add up to 63 or more, you get 35 extra points. That is three of each number on average.
- Choice: the total of all five dice, any roll.
- Four of a Kind: at least four dice show the same number. Score the total of all five dice.
- Full House: three of one number and two of another. Score the total of all five dice. Five of the same number is not a Full House.
- Small Straight: four numbers in a row, such as 2‑3‑4‑5. Scores 15.
- Large Straight: five numbers in a row, 1‑2‑3‑4‑5 or 2‑3‑4‑5‑6. Scores 30.
- Yacht: all five dice the same. Scores 50.
End of the game
The game ends when both players have filled all 12 boxes. Add the top boxes, the bonus and the bottom boxes. The player with more points wins. Equal totals are a draw.
Strategy tips
- Aim for the bonus. Three of a number in each top box is enough for 63. Getting four 6s or 5s early gives you room to miss elsewhere.
- Keep Choice for bad rolls. Choice takes any roll, so save it for a turn that went wrong instead of using it early.
- Use a 0 wisely. When a turn fails, put the zero where it hurts least, like Ones or a Yacht you are unlikely to get late in the game.
- Hold pairs, not singles. With no plan, keep your highest pair or three of a kind. It can turn into Four of a Kind, a Full House or a Yacht.
- Go for straights from the middle. 3‑4‑5 can grow on both sides, so it fills a straight more often than 1‑2‑3.
Yacht Dice FAQ
Is this the same as other five-dice games?
It is the classic Yacht game. Games sold under other brand names work almost the same way but use slightly different boxes, such as Three of a Kind or an extra bonus for a second five of a kind.
Can I score 0 in a box?
Yes. After your last roll you must fill one empty box. If your dice do not fit any of them, pick one and it scores 0.
Can I hold dice after the third roll?
No. Three rolls is the limit. After the third roll you choose a box to score.
How strong is the computer?
Easy often keeps the wrong dice and scores about 130 points on average. Medium keeps the dice that score most this turn and gets around 165. Hard also plans for the bonus and future boxes and averages about 190.
