The object of Yakzee is to score the highest number of points you can, or (in multiplayer mode) to score more points than your opponent. Points are awarded by achieving certain combinations of dice (of which there are five in play) with players aiming to score twelve different combinations – we’ll refer to these as ‘tricks’.
After choosing the number of players and the number of rounds you want for your game, the first player starts by rolling five dice – simply tap the “roll dice” button.
Above the dice you will see the twelve different tricks you will be trying to achieve. These are separated into two columns, each featuring six tricks.
The leftmost tricks require the player to end up with three (or more) dice of the same value – i.e. the first requires three+ dice showing ‘1’, the second needs three+ dice to show ‘2’ and so on. When playing one of these tricks, the points scored only take into account the three (or more) dice with the required face values. For example, if your dice show 1-1-5-3-1 and chose 3x1 then you’d score 3 points; if however your dice values were 1-1-1-5-1 then you’d be awarded 4 points.
The tricks in the right-hand column are slightly different. These are:
Three of a Kind – any three (or more) dice must have the same face value.
Four of a Kind – any four (or more) dice must have the same face value.
Full House – Three dice all showing one value, the other two showing a different value (but the same as each other).
Chance – Any combination of dice whatsoever.
Run – values of 1,2,3,4,5 or 2,3,4,5,6
Yakzee – all five dice showing the same value.
The scores for these tricks from the right-hand column will include the values of all five dice, except for a full house – which always scores 25, a run – which always scores 40, and a Yakzee – for which you are awarded 50 points.
After your first throw (of all five dice) you can then choose any number of them to hold and throw a second time, or you can choose a trick to score with. For instance, if you are lucky enough to throw a Yakzee of sixes on your first go, you would surely want to choose to score the Yakzee trick, which would give you 30 points (6+6+6+6+6).
If, however, you choose to hold some dice and throw again, simply tap the dice to hold and then hit the roll button again. If you are still not happy, you’ll get a third and final chance. Note that held dice remain held – so if you no longer want to hold one of the dice, tap it again to ‘un-select’.
After your third throw (or sooner if you choose) you must select a trick to score. If you are unlucky enough not to have achieved any tricks with your dice – or, if you have previously scored that trick – then the game will randomly select a trick and score you 0 points for it; an ‘x’ will be displayed next to that trick.
Having scored a trick, the games moves to the next player. The game ends when all players have scored (or received an ‘x’) for all tricks.
There is one final twist in the scoring. If you have successfully scored all of the tricks in the left-hand column, you’ll be awarded a bonus 35 points. This makes devising, implementing and adapting a winning strategy even more exciting.
The best way to learn this entertaining game is to play it. So get your friends over and fire up the yak.
YAKZEE!