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Yahtzee Rules

Object

Finish with the highest grand total once every player has filled all 13 scorecard boxes.

Turn

Roll all 5 dice, then choose to hold any and reroll the rest, up to two rerolls (three rolls total). Score your final roll into exactly one open box.

Scoring

Optional House Rules

Hosts can turn on any of these variants when creating a room. They all default off — with everything off you get the standard game described above. Here is what each one actually does, assuming you have never played the variant before.

Category order

Free choice (official). The standard game: after your last roll, score any open box you like.

In-Order (top to bottom). Your scorecard must be filled strictly from top to bottom: Aces first, then Twos, and so on down to Chance. Each turn, the only box you can score is the topmost open one — even if that means writing a zero because the dice do not fit. This flips normal strategy on its head: you cannot save Yahtzee or the straights for when the dice cooperate, so every roll becomes about making the best of the box you are stuck with.

Bottom-Up (Chance first). Exactly the same idea in reverse: start at Chance and work your way up, finishing with Aces.

Mulligan

Each player gets one extra roll for the whole game. On any single turn, after using your normal three rolls, a "Mulligan roll" button appears — take it to roll a fourth time (held dice stay held). Once you have used your Mulligan it is gone for the rest of the game, so most players save it for a near-miss on Yahtzee or a big straight.

Joker rule (what happens on a second Yahtzee)

These variants only matter after you have already filled the Yahtzee box and then roll five of a kind again. In the standard game this is the most confusing rule in Yahtzee, so here it is spelled out:

Official. If your Yahtzee box holds 50 (you scored a real Yahtzee earlier), a second Yahtzee immediately earns a 100-point bonus. Then you must still place the roll in a box, in this strict order: the matching upper box if it is open (five 4s must go in Fours), otherwise Three of a Kind or Four of a Kind, otherwise the roll acts as a wild "Joker" that can fill Full House, Small Straight, or Large Straight for their full value, otherwise Chance. If your Yahtzee box holds a 0 (you zeroed it earlier), there is no bonus, but the same placement order applies.

Worked example: you roll 4-4-4-4-4 and your Yahtzee box already holds 50. You collect the 100-point bonus. Fours is open, so the roll must go there for 20 points. If Fours were already filled but Full House were open, the roll could act as a Joker and score the full 25 in Full House instead.

Infinite Joker. Friendlier: every additional Yahtzee earns the 100-point bonus, even if your Yahtzee box holds a zero. Placement works the same as Official. Expect higher scores.

No Jokers Allowed. Harsher: extra Yahtzees earn no bonus, and the roll cannot stand in for Full House or the straights — you score exactly what the dice show in an open box (the matching upper box, a Kind, or Chance), or take a zero.

The full implementation contract lives in docs/YAHTZEE-RULES-CONTRACT.md.

Solo Play

Want to just roll by yourself? Choose Solo under Max players when hosting a game (or start a room with only yourself seated). Solo games use the same 13 rounds, scoring, and house rules, and post to their own solo leaderboard — kept separate from multiplayer high scores.