Yahtzee has a large luck component to it. The best advice is to keep your options open when playing: look for dice combinations that can play in the larger and higher value slots.
How to Play
For those who have never played Yahtzee before, it is a game that focuses around rolling five dice and attempting to get combinations across those dice. These are the rules for the classic game.
You start each turn by rolling five dice. You can then keep any number of them you want and roll the rest, repeating this process a third time. At this point, you score your hand into one of thirteen different scoring areas on your scorecard. You repeat this twelve more times until your entire scorecard is full, using each scoring area exactly once.
The upper region of the score sheet contains "Ones" through "Sixes" -- You score the total of the number of that value in that space. (For example, the "Fives" would score 5 points for every 5 you roll.) If you get a total of 63 points in the upper section -- the equivalent of getting three of each number -- you get a 35 point bonus.
The lower region holds various poker hand values: 3 and 4 of a kind require you to have at least 3 or 4 of the same number; both score the total of all five dice. A full house is 3 dice of one number and 2 dice of another number; this scores 25. A small straight is 4 consecutive numbers on 4 dice (1-2-3-4, 2-3-4-5, or 3-4-5-6) and is worth 30 points. A large straight is 5 consecutive numbers (1-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-6) and is worth 40. Chance has no requirements and scores the total of all of your dice; this is like your one "free" roll to use when you've tried, but failed, to score in a different section.
The last space is Yahtzee, which is 5 of a kind, and scores 50 points. If you roll a second Yahtzee after having already scored 50 points in the Yahtzee space, you get a 100 point bonus. If you roll a Yahtzee after the Yahtzee space is filled (whether with a 50 or a 0), then you have to score it in the appropriate upper section. If that space is filled, you get to score it in any lower section area, even if a 5-of-a-kind wouldn't normally qualify (such as a straight).
You always have the option of scoring 0 in any available space that you don't qualify for instead of being forced to take a poor result. (For example, if you roll a 1-2-3-4-6, you can choose to put 0 in Large Straight rather than being forced to score 6 under Sixes.)
Your final score is the total of all 13 scoring sections, plus the bonuses.
The phone version adds a few additional modes. The first is Rainbow Yahtzee. In this mode, each die has one of three different colors in addition to its number. Four extra scoring areas are added: One for a flush of each color, which scores 35, and a color full house (3 of one color and 2 of a different color) for 15 points. A full game is now 17 rounds because of the four extra scoring squares.
A duplicate mode exists for both classic and rainbow Yahtzee. This is played exactly the same way, but both players get exactly the same rolls of the dice to eliminate the luck of the roll from the game.
The last mode is battle mode. The values of the rolls are the same as in classic, but the scoring is different. Each player starts with 100 points. If you are reduced to 0 points, you are knocked out of the game. Scoring in the upper section gives you points (but never more than 100) while scoring in the lower section lets you reduce the point total of a single opponent. If you can score a Yahtzee, all opponents lose 50 points. Chance is random: you can either gain or lose points or you can cause all opponents to lose points.
Except for the Yahtzee, you can use each space only once every four turns. The game continues until only one person is left.
Strategy Tips
I’ve found that over the course of a game, you’ll usually hit a straight on your initial roll at least once. Rolling to a straight is hard and if you miss, you usually have a very low scoring hand, so I usually don’t try for a straight and just let one come to me. (Obviously, if you roll a small straight and you need both the small and large straight, do try to roll for the large straight.)
In Rainbow mode, the flushes seem very hard to roll – always be on the lookout for the chance to pick them up opportunistically. At 35 points each, they can be quite valuable. Like rolling to a straight, trying to roll to a flush usually leaves you with a very poor hand if you miss.
Full houses seem to come easily when you’re not aiming for them, but seem hard to roll intentionally. I usually score those opportunistically as soon as the chance arises.
Try to get the upper bonus which is 35 points. Especially if you have the chance to score four 5s or four 6s in the top, that can make up for a lot of missed smaller numbers.
If you have a roll that doesn’t score anywhere useful, consider putting a low mark in the Ones or Twos before putting a 0 in Yahtzee. A single extra 3 through 6 can make up for a 0 in the Ones and still reach the bonus while keeping the chance of a Yahtzee available. Often scoring a Yahtzee can turn a losing game into a winning game by itself. In addition, you can’t get the 100 point bonus for a second Yahtzee if you’ve scored a 0 there earlier in the match.
If you have already scored a Yahtzee and are working on the last few spaces on the board and your initial roll has 3 or 4 of a kind, it might be worth going for the bonus Yahtzee instead of the space you need. You can score a bonus Yahtzee in any lower square for full marks (even if it doesn’t otherwise qualify – like a straight) and even if you have to take a 0 in the upper half, the 100 point bonus more than makes up for it.
Going into options and enabling “Speed Play” greatly speeds up how fast games are.
While your stats page tracks the number of wins you have, it doesn’t break that down by game type for the achievement wins. You'll want to keep track of that yourself if you want an indication of your progress.
For a given game mode, if all you need to do is grind out the total number of wins, skip rolling the dice at all. Just place the initial roll you get into the best scoring option (for player #1) or a zero (for player #2). You won’t score very high, but it is quite easy to have player #1 come out on top.
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