I remember going to my grandparents house when I was a kid and we used to play this really noisy game. A plastic cup filled with 5 dice that the kids would emphatically shake up and down way too many times and then spill those dice out onto a wooden diningroom table - it was loud! But we had fun and still, 30 years later we are still playing that game. I have done away with the plastic cup which makes it a lot more pleasant for the noise factor!
Yahtzee is a game that has 5 dice and a score sheet. Each player has their own score sheet and the object is to have the highest score at the end of the game. The score sheet is divided into 2 sections, top and bottom. You begin play by rolling the 5 dice. You will then decide, based on what you have rolled, which dice to save out and which to re-roll. If you really didn't get much to work with you can re-roll all of them, but you only have a total of 3 rolls per turn. As few as two can play the game or as many as you have score sheets for.
On the score sheet are several options you are rolling for. The top half of the score sheet is where you want to try and get at least 3 dice of the same number, numbers 1 through 6. If you are successful in getting exactly three of the same number in each of the numbers, you will score 63 and receive a bonus of 35. You can get any number over 63 and receive your bonus as well, of course, but in order to get your bonus, you will have to get at least 3 for each number, or make it up by getting 4 of another number. (For example, if you only were able to get 2 twos, you could still get your bonus if you were able to roll 4 threes.) You want to strive to get your bonus.
On the lower half of the score sheet are the following categories you are shooting for.
Three of a kind - you can choose any number to try and get three of a kind.
Four of a kind - same as above, but need four instead of three.
Full House - two of one number and three of another.
Small straight - rolling 2,3,4,5 or 1,2,3,4 or 3,4,5,6
Large straight - rolling 1,2,3,4,5 or 2,3,4,5,6
Yahtzee - Five of a kind. This is the hardest to achieve but worth the most points - 50. If you are able to roll more than one Yahtzee in a game, each Yahtzee after the first is worth 100 points.
The last category is Chance. This is when you have no place to put the turn you have just rolled. Maybe it doesn't fit it any of the categories above, maybe you don't want to use it in the upper half of the score sheet because you are going for your bonus. But this is a place to put a 'dog turn' as we call them.
A variation that we play now and then is that everyone has to play for the same category each turn, starting with the first. In other words, on the first turn everyone is shooting for ones. You may get 5, or you may get none, but it counts for the ones, then you move on to the twos and so on.
Yahtzee is a terrific traveling game because it takes up almost NO room in your suitcase. All you need is one pad of score sheets and 5 dice. Of course you will need something to write with as well. The kids can start playing this fairly young and it gives them a fun way to learn how to count and make strategic decisions.
You don't have to buy the game that comes in a box, you can buy replacement scoresheet pads and a pack of 5 dice, but if you want that noisy cup to shake the dice in, you will have to buy the boxed game.
Disclaimer: I KNOW that the proper word for dice plural is DIE, but I prefer to just say dice. Thanks!
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