A fast, addictive dice game
For: Best with 2 players, but can be expanded limitless
Needs: Six traditional dice. A way to record score.
The object of the game is get the most points.
Farkle is played in turns. At the beginning of each turn, the player throws all six dice. After each throw, the player must set aside at least one scoring die. If no dice can score, the turn is over and the player has Farkled. If there is at least one scoring die, then the player has two choices: either stop rolling and take their points, or set aside at least one die to score, continue to roll, and risk their accumulated points for that turn.
A turn is over once one of two things has happened:
If the player has set aside all six dice for scoring, then they can continue their turn by throwing all six dice anew (and keeping the score they have so far for the turn). By continuing to roll, the player continues to risk their points for the entire turn.
Printable scoring sheet - click here
The scoring dice are:
Single 5: 50 points Single 1: 100 points Three 1s: 300 points Three 2s: 200 points Three 3s: 300 points Three 4s: 400 points Three 5s: 500 points Three 6s: 600 points |
Four of a kind (any): 1000 points |
NOTE: All scores listed are for a single throw of the dice. For example, if the roller sets aside a single 5 spot and counts 50, and then on his next roll comes up with two 5 spots, he cannot count 500 for Three 5s (although he may set aside the additional as two single 5 spots for 100 points). Because of this, you can only score the Six of a kind, Straight, Three pair, or Two triples when rolling all six dice.
Your goal is 5000 points. The first player that exceeds 5000 points is done. Everyone else at the table gets one more turn to try and beat the score. The highest score after those last turns is the winner. In the event of a tie, full rounds of turns (including all players) are played until one person has a higher score.
It is better to leave yourself with three or more dice for a throw than it is to take single scoring dice. For instance, if you have set aside 2 dice already, and then throw two single scoring dice (say, a 1 and a 5), then you should only take the single 1.
If you are significantly behind, it is better to play aggressively than to play conservatively. Conversely, if you are significantly ahead, then it is better to play conservatively than aggressively. Some players are always aggressive or always conservative, but the adaptive player is the one most likely to win.
Throwing all six dice will almost always lead to at least one scoring die. Only the ultra-conservative player will stop rolling with all six dice in their hand.
When approaching 5000 points, be aware of the scores of your competitors. When you exceed 5000, you don't get another turn, but those who trail you get to play again. They are now mandated to roll until they Farkle or they beat you. If the score is close, you may want to roll again and again until you have a significantly large score.
I don't play any of these, but I've seen them. Each makes the game more complicated to score and/or keep track of. I'm a fan of play-it-like-it-lies. Most of these variations deviate from that.
Minimum score to stop: A player must have at least 350 points to voluntarily stop rolling. This simply avoids ultra low scores and forces players that have only been rolling single 5 spots from stopping.
Minimum score to begin: A player may not score their first points unless they have at least 1000 points on their turn. This forces players to be a little more aggressive early in the game, which is usually what players are doing anyway.
Play to 10,000: Obvious change that lengthens the game significantly. Not useful if you want to play a number of games.
Three six-dice Farkle rule: If a player rolls three first-roll six-dice Farkles on three turns in a row, they automatically win. Or they are out of the game; I've heard of both variations.
Three Farkles in a row: After a player Farkles for the third time in a row (Farkle by ANY means), the player is docked 500 points. This forces players to play much more conservatively if they've already got two Farkles in a row.
Alternative scoring options:
- Three 1s scores 1000 instead of 300
- Three pair scores 500 or 750 instead of 1500
- Two triples score their respective three of a kind scores instead of 2500 (i.e. two triples are not a special scoring option)
- More than three of a kind doubles the score for each additional die. Example: Four 4s would score 800. Five 4s would score 1600. Six 4s would score 3200.
Enjoy, and have tons of fun.