Games World of Puzzles – October 2019

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roll up to three times each turn, choosing which dice to
keep. If a play cannot be made, the category is scratched
and no score can be entered into that category for the rest
of the game. The typical categories like full house and four-
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the same.) A nice twist in this game is Big Generala. That’s
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player automatically wins the game!

The Yahtzee Difference

Yahtzee differs from its predecessors in several major
ways. These include the introduction of a bonus in the up-
per section of the scorecard; the inclusion of the 3-of-a-kind
category; and a small straight that is a sequence of four
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appeal is that every game is different. With the 5 six-sided
dice, a total of 7,776 combinations may be rolled.
The object of Yahtzee is to score as many points as pos-
sible. Any number of players can take part in the game.
Players score points by rolling 5 dice up to three times per
turn, although they can choose to end the turn after one
or two rolls. Listed on the scorecard are 13 scoring boxes.
On every turn, a player must decide which of the 13 boxes
to enter the score in. Each box represents a category with
the score calculated in different ways; one score must be
entered per box. The main game strategy is to decide which
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ber of points scored. In his 2001 book Advantage Yahtzee,
game researcher Olaf Vancura states that the highest score
that can be reached is 1,575, which would mean rolling 13
straight Yahtzees. The lowest score is 5, with each category
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The scorecard’s 13 boxes are divided into an upper and
a lower section. The six categories in the top section are
Ones, Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, and Sixes. For example,
if you roll three 4s, then you enter a score of 12 (4×3) into

the box labeled 4. All the dice that are not of the value

in the box (4 in this case) are ignored when scoring in

the upper section. At the end of the game, if a player

has scored 63 points or more in the upper section, a

35-point bonus is awarded.

The lower section of the scorecard consists of seven

categories: 3 of a kind (3 dice are the same number

such as 6, 6, 6, 4, 2; add total of all 5 dice), 4 of a kind

(4 dice are the same number like 3, 3, 3, 3, 5; add total

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of another value, such as 5, 5, 5, 1, 1; 25 points), Small

Straight (4 dice in sequential order, such as 1, 2, 3, 4;

30 points), Large Straight (5 dice in sequential order,

such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; 40 points), Yahtzee (all 5 dice are

the same, like 2, 2, 2, 2, 2; 50 points), Chance (total of

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earn you 100 points each. On any turn, if the roll does

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of the game. The winner is the player with the highest

point total.

Enduring Appeal

Over the years, due to the sales success of Yahtzee,

many versions of the game have been released, includ-

ing Triple Yahtzee, Word Yahtzee, Challenge Yahtzee,

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tions of the game including Pac-Man, Pokémon, and

Doctor Who.

Although it has been around since the 1950s, Yahtzee

remains a favorite to this day. Its tantalizing mix of

luck, strategy, and simple rules makes it a modern

classic. Alongside other timeless standards like

Monopoly and Clue, it deserves a place in any well-

rounded game library. Q

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