Yacht

Players and equipment

Five dice and a scoresheet each, for any number of players. Yacht is the older game that Yahtzee was built from, and the two are commonly conflated — the scorecard in this app is Yacht's own twelve categories, not Yahtzee's thirteen. Two to four at a table is the usual game.

The deal

No deal. Roll all five dice, then re-roll any of them up to twice more, keeping what you like in between. After the third roll, enter a score in one of the twelve categories; each may be used once. You may stop after the first or second roll if the dice already suit you, and a die you kept may be picked up again for the next roll.

Play

The categories are ones through sixes, plus full house, four of a kind, little straight, big straight, choice and yacht. A category that does not fit the dice has to be taken at zero. Then the dice pass to the left. Twelve turns each and the game is done: every turn is a decision about which box to spend on which roll, and a box spent is spent for the rest of the card.

Scoring

Upper section

Ones

Total of those dice

The dice showing 1

Twos

Total of those dice

The dice showing 2

Threes

Total of those dice

The dice showing 3

Fours

Total of those dice

The dice showing 4

Fives

Total of those dice

The dice showing 5

Sixes

Total of those dice

The dice showing 6

There is no upper-section bonus in the older game — that is one of the things Yahtzee added.

So a number box is worth exactly the dice in it, and there is no total to keep pace with.

Lower section

Full house

Total of all five dice

Three of one number and two of another

Four of a kind

Total of those four

Four matching dice

Little straight

30

1-2-3-4-5 exactly

Big straight

30

2-3-4-5-6 exactly

Choice

Total of all five dice

Anything at all

Yacht

50

Five matching dice

Full house and four of a kind score the dice rather than a flat number — the other thing Yahtzee changed. There is no bonus for a second yacht.

So a full house is worth what it shows: three sixes and two fives come to 28. Four of a kind is the four matching dice alone, the fifth die ignored, so it runs from 4 to 24. A straight has to be exactly the five named, and there is no box for four in a row.

A worked card

Alice's card, box by box:

Ones

3

1, 1, 1, 4, 6

Twos

6

2, 2, 2, 3, 5

Threes

9

3, 3, 3, 1, 6

Fours

12

4, 4, 4, 1, 2

Fives

15

5, 5, 5, 2, 3

Sixes

24

6, 6, 6, 6, 2

Full house

19

3, 3, 3, 5, 5

Four of a kind

8

2, 2, 2, 2, 5

Little straight

30

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Big straight

30

2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Choice

24

6, 6, 5, 4, 3

Yacht

0

Never came, scratched

The six number boxes come to 3 + 6 + 9 + 12 + 15 + 24 = 69, with no bonus to add. The lower boxes are 19 + 8 + 30 + 30 + 24 + 0 = 111. Her card totals 180.

The four twos went in four of a kind for 8 because twos was already full; in twos the same roll would also have been 8. The same dice on Yahtzee's card would have paid differently at four places: 35 for an upper section past 63, 25 for the full house rather than 19, 13 for the four of a kind — all five dice — rather than 8, and 40 for the big straight rather than 30. That is the whole of the difference between the two games.

Ending

The game ends when every category is filled on every sheet. Highest total wins. A whole sheet counts as one match here, so a session is however many sheets you play and the standing is over those.

No bonus to chase

In Yahtzee the top six boxes are a project, because three of each number earns a bonus. In Yacht they are not: a number box is worth its dice and nothing else, so there is no pace to keep and no reason to protect ones and twos. Use them as dustbins. A roll with two ones in it goes in ones for 2 and costs you nothing; four sixes are worth 24 in sixes or in four of a kind, and that is the choice worth thinking about.

Full house and four of a kind

Both score the dice, so both want high dice. Three sixes and two fives is the best full house there is at 28; three ones and two twos is 7, which belongs in ones or twos, leaving the full house box open for something better. Four ones are 4 wherever you put them, so put them in ones and keep the box for four fives or sixes. With three of a kind after the first roll, keep them and roll the other two: a fourth matching die comes about one time in two over the two rolls, and a pair for the full house about one in three.

The straights

A straight is exact, so the dice you hold decide which box you are rolling for. With 2, 3, 4, 5 showing, a 1 fills the little straight and a 6 the big one, so either end will do: one chance in three on each roll, better than evens over two. With 1, 2, 3, 4 only a 5 helps, and with 3, 4, 5, 6 only a 2: one chance in six each roll, about one in three over two. And 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 is not a straight at all.

The choice box

Choice takes any five dice at their total and is used once, so it is worth 30 at most and about 17 on an average roll. Save it for a high roll that fits nowhere else rather than spending it early on 15. It is also the box that saves 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 when the big straight is already filled.

The end of the card

With three or four boxes left, roll for what you can still fill and nothing else. Yacht is the box to leave open longest: it costs nothing to keep empty and a late five of a kind is worth 50. Count the other cards too. A player twenty behind with two boxes left has to gamble on the 50; a player twenty ahead should take a sure 20 in sixes and let the yacht box go to zero.

Yahtzee

The game Yacht became, with its own page. Thirteen boxes: full house a flat 25, a small straight of any four in a row for 30, a large straight of five for 40, three of a kind and four of a kind at the total of all five dice, choice renamed chance, a bonus of 35 for an upper section of 63 or more, and 100 for every yahtzee after the first.

Generala

The South American branch of the family, played with five dice and a cup. Ones to sixes score as in Yacht; a straight of five is 20, a full house 30, four of a kind 40 and five of a kind — the generala — 50, each worth a little more when it comes on the first roll, and at many tables a generala on the first roll wins the game outright.

Kismet

Played with coloured dice — the 1 and 6 one colour, the 2 and 5 another, the 3 and 4 a third — with a flush of five dice in one colour among the boxes, and a bonus for the upper section. It needs its own dice and has its own page.

Yatzy

The Scandinavian card. Fifteen boxes: ones to sixes with a bonus of 50 at 63, one pair and two pairs at the dice, three and four of a kind at the dice, a small straight of exactly 1 to 5 for 15 and a large straight of exactly 2 to 6 for 20, full house at the dice, chance, and yatzy for 50.

Boxes in order

The twelve boxes are filled from the top down, ones first and yacht last, whatever the dice show. Quick, luck-heavy, and a good way of teaching the card to children.

What is the difference between Yacht and Yahtzee?

Yacht has twelve boxes and no bonuses; Yahtzee has thirteen and two. In Yacht the full house and four of a kind score the dice themselves, both straights are exactly five dice for 30, and a second yacht earns nothing extra. Yahtzee added a three of a kind box, a flat 25 for a full house, a four-dice small straight for 30 and a large straight for 40, a bonus of 35 for an upper section of 63, and 100 for each extra yahtzee.

Is there a bonus in Yacht?

No. There is no upper-section bonus and no bonus for a second yacht. The card total is simply the twelve boxes added together, so the most a card can hold is 297.

How do you score a full house in Yacht?

Three dice of one number and two of another, scored as the total of all five dice: 6, 6, 6, 5, 5 is 28 and 2, 2, 2, 1, 1 is 8. There is no flat score. Five of a kind is not a full house.

How do you score four of a kind in Yacht?

As the four matching dice only, ignoring the fifth. Four fives and a two score 20, not 22. Five matching dice may go in the box as four of them if the yacht box is already used.

Does 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 count as a big straight in Yacht?

No. The little straight is exactly 1 to 5 and the big straight exactly 2 to 6, and each is worth 30. A run of 1 to 5 goes in the little straight box; if that box is full, it goes in choice at 15 or in a number box. There is no box for four in a row.

What is the choice box in Yacht?

A box that takes any five dice at their total, once in the game, the same as Yahtzee's chance. It is where a good roll that fits nothing else goes, and the higher the better: 30 for five sixes is the most it can hold.