How to Play Yahtzee Online with Friends
6 min read · Free to play on Boardly · 1–4 players
Rules, modes and player counts: Yahtzee game page
Last updated
How do you play Yahtzee online with friends?
On your turn you roll five dice up to three times, holding whichever you want to keep between rolls, then commit the result to one of the categories on your scorecard – and when every category is filled, the highest total wins.
What You Need
- 1–4 players (play solo against AI or with friends)
- A browser — desktop, tablet, or mobile
- No account required (guest play available)
- Free — no ads, no download
The Basic Rules
Each turn, you roll five dice. You may re-roll any or all of them up to two more times (three rolls total). After your rolls, you must assign your result to one of 15 scoring categories. Once a category is filled, it cannot be changed, and that includes Yahtzee itself: five of a kind scores 50 once, and a second one has to go somewhere else. The game ends when all 15 categories are filled by every player, or all 9 of them in short mode.
The player with the highest total score wins. A bonus of 35 points is awarded if your upper section score totals 63 or more. Short mode, the turn timer and bot opponents are chosen when you create a game from the Yahtzee game page.
All 15 Scoring Categories
Upper Section
Sum of all dice showing 1
Sum of all dice showing 2
Sum of all dice showing 3
Sum of all dice showing 4
Sum of all dice showing 5
Sum of all dice showing 6
Lower Section
Sum of the highest pair
Sum of both pairs
Sum of all 5 dice
Sum of all 5 dice
Three of one + two of another
4 sequential dice
5 sequential dice
All five dice the same
Any combo — sum of all 5 dice
Strategy Tips
- Chase the upper section bonus
Aim for at least 3 of each number in the upper section — that gets you to 63 points and the 35-point bonus.
- Keep Yahtzee attempts alive
If you have 3 or 4 of the same number on your first roll, it's usually worth going for Yahtzee rather than settling for three-of-a-kind.
- Use Chance as a last resort
Chance scores the sum of all dice — save it for turns where nothing else fits. A good Chance score is usually 20+.
- Fill low-value categories early
If you roll a bad set, put zeros in Aces or Twos early — they're worth little anyway.
- Prioritize Large Straight over Small
Large Straight scores 40 vs 30 for Small. If you have 4 sequential dice after roll 1, go for the large.
These five cover the basics. For the deeper plan – when fifty is worth chasing, where a second five of a kind goes and the mistakes that cost the bonus – read the strategy section of the Yahtzee game page.
Yahtzee Questions
How many times can I roll the dice on a turn?
Three. The first roll takes all five dice; before each of the next two you choose which dice to hold and re-roll the rest. You may also stop early and score whatever you have.
What is the upper section bonus?
Thirty-five extra points for scoring 63 or more across Ones through Sixes. Sixty-three is three of a kind in every one of those six categories, so being short in one row means making it up in another.
Do I have to score every turn?
Yes. Every turn ends by writing a number into an empty category, even when the roll is bad – that is what a zero in Aces or Chance is for. You cannot skip a turn or reuse a category you have already filled.
Is Large Straight worth more than Small Straight?
Yes: 40 against 30. If four dice already run in sequence after the first roll, the large one is usually worth the attempt, because the small one stays available as the fallback.
Can I play Yahtzee on my own?
Yes. Yahtzee seats one to four players, so a solo game is a legitimate lobby, and there is a bot on three difficulty levels if you would rather have an opponent.
How long does a game take?
Fifteen to twenty minutes for two players and a little longer for four, because everyone fills the same scorecard. It is the longest game on Boardly, and the best one for a session where people want to talk between turns.
What is short mode?
A nine-category game: the lower section only, from One Pair through Chance, which cuts about 40% of the length. There is no upper section in short mode, so the 35-point bonus never applies. Pick it when the group wants a game that finishes.