How to play Yahtzee solo

Yahtzee is the classic dice game of luck and lucky decisions, played here on your own against the score sheet. A full game is exactly thirteen turns, one for each scoring category. Your aim is to fill in all thirteen boxes with the biggest total you can manage. There is no opponent to beat but yourself — your best score is saved on this device, so every game is a chance to top your personal record.

How a turn works

• Roll all five dice. Tap any dice you like the look of to hold them aside.
• Roll again — only the dice you did not hold are re-rolled. You get up to three rolls per turn.
• When you are happy (or out of rolls), choose one category to score the dice in. That box is then locked for the rest of the game.

You do not have to use all three rolls, and you can change which dice are held between rolls. Every turn must end by scoring something — even if that means writing a zero into a category you cannot fill.

The categories

• Upper section (ones through sixes): the sum of just the dice that match that number. Score 63 or more across the whole upper section and you earn a +35 bonus.
• Three of a kind / Four of a kind: the sum of all five dice, provided you have at least three (or four) matching.
• Full house: a flat 25 points for three of one number plus two of another.
• Small straight: 30 points for four dice in a run, such as 2-3-4-5.
• Large straight: 40 points for all five dice in a run, such as 1-2-3-4-5.
• Yahtzee: 50 points for all five dice showing the same number. Roll another Yahtzee after that and each one is worth a bonus +100.
• Chance: the sum of all five dice, no conditions — a handy place to dump an awkward roll.

Strategy

That upper-section bonus is the single biggest swing on the sheet, so chase the 63 early — three of each number, on average, gets you there. If a turn goes badly, the kindest places to take a near-zero are the ones you were unlikely to fill anyway. Save Chance for a mediocre roll late in the game, and never throw away a Yahtzee box if there is any chance of hitting five of a kind.