Farkle

Setup

• Players: two or more.
• Dice: six standard six-sided dice.
• Who starts: everyone rolls one die. Highest goes first, then play moves clockwise.
• Getting on the board: your first bank must be at least 500 points in a single turn.

How to play

1. 1Roll all six. Start your turn by rolling all six dice.
2. 2Keep something that scores. Set aside at least one scoring die or combination. Its points go into your turn total.
3. 3Bank it or roll again. Bank the turn total onto your score, or roll the dice you have left to try for more.
4. 4Hot Dice. If all six dice have scored, pick them all up and keep rolling, adding to the same turn total.
5. 5Farkle. Roll nothing that scores and you Farkle. The turn total is lost and play passes on.

Winning

When someone's banked score reaches 10,000, everyone else gets one final turn to beat it. Highest score at the end wins.

Scoring

Our rules: three 1s rolled together score 1,000 (some tables count them as 300). Four or more of a kind double the three-of-a-kind score each time, so four 4s are 800 and four 1s are 2,000. When a roll can score two ways, you get the better one.

Key terms

Farkle:

A throw with nothing that scores. You lose this turn's points and your turn ends.

Bank:

Stop rolling and add your turn total to your score.

Turn total:

The points you have set aside this turn but not banked yet.

Hot Dice:

Every die has scored, so you pick up all six and keep rolling.

Getting on the board:

Your first bank must be at least 500 points in one turn.

Set:

Three or more of the same number rolled together. Each extra die doubles it.

Straight:

One of each number, 1 through 6, in a single throw. Worth 1,500.

Three pairs:

Three different pairs in a single throw. Worth 1,500.

Final round:

Once someone reaches 10,000, everyone else gets one last turn to beat them.