Learn Five Dice: Rules

Five Dice is a dice game combining luck and strategy. Roll five dice up to three times per turn, trying to make scoring combinations. Choose which category to score in each turn, but each category can only be used once. The highest total score wins.

Use five standard dice and a score sheet with 13 categories. Each player takes turns until all 13 categories are filled. The game has an upper section (1s through 6s) and a lower section (special combinations).

1. 01On your turn, roll all five dice.
2. 02You may keep any dice and re-roll the rest, up to two additional times (three rolls total).
3. 03After rolling (or choosing to stop), select a scoring category for your result.
4. 04Upper section: Score the sum of dice showing that number (e.g., three 4s = 12 points in the Fours category).
5. 05Lower section includes: Three of a Kind, Four of a Kind, Full House (25), Small Straight (30), Large Straight (40), Five of a Kind (50), Chance (sum of all dice).
6. 06Each category can only be used once per game.
7. 07If you score 63 or more in the upper section, you earn a 35-point bonus.
8. 08If you roll another Five of a Kind and the Five of a Kind category is already filled with 50, you get a 100-point bonus.

After all 13 categories are filled by all players, add up total scores. Highest score wins. Maximum possible is 1575 points (with multiple Five of a Kind bonuses).

Five-dice scoring games go back to Yacht, a public-domain game from the early 20th century, and to Latin American Generala. The 13-category score sheet became the most widely played form, with Yatzy as its Scandinavian cousin.