Farkle
Roll six dice, set aside the ones that score, then bank the turn’s points or roll the rest and risk them all. A roll with nothing to score is a Farkle.
Also try Yacht → Also try Shut the Box → Also try Liar's Dice →
How to play Farkle
How to play
Press Roll to throw all six dice. Tap scoring dice to set them aside; the value of your choice shows as you tap. Then press Bank to add the turn’s points to your total, or Roll to throw the dice that are left (keys: 1 to 6, R and B). Every roll must give you at least one scoring die. If a roll has nothing that scores, that’s a Farkle and the turn scores 0. When all six dice have scored (hot dice), you may roll all six again. The game is 5 or 10 turns; your score is the total after the last turn.
Scoring
Single 1: 100. Single 5: 50. Three of a kind: the number × 100, except three 1s: 1,000. Four of a kind: twice the three-of-a-kind value, five of a kind: three times, six of a kind: four times. A straight 1-2-3-4-5-6: 1,500. Three pairs (three different numbers): 1,500. Four of a kind with a pair is not three pairs. Dice you set aside from one roll must all score, so a lone 2 can’t be kept, and dice from different rolls never combine. There is no minimum to bank.
Tips
Keep fewer dice when you can: with a 1, a 5 and nothing else, setting aside only the 1 and rolling five dice averages about 400 for the turn, against about 310 for keeping both. Perfect play keeps rolling while the turn is worth at most 3,050 with five dice left, 1,000 with four, 400 with three, 200 with two and 250 with one, and banks above that. With six dice to roll it almost always rolls.
Daily game
The daily game has 10 turns. Each die’s value comes from the date, the roll number and the die’s place, so everyone who makes the same choices sees the same dice.
Questions
What is a Farkle?
A roll with no scoring dice: no 1, no 5, no three of a kind, and with six dice no straight and no three pairs. The turn ends at once and scores 0, including any points you had set aside that turn. With six dice it happens about 2% of the time; with one die left, two times in three.
What are hot dice?
When every one of your six dice has been set aside as scoring dice in one turn, you have hot dice. You keep the turn’s points and may roll all six again, or bank.
How does Farkle scoring work here?
1s are 100 and 5s are 50 each. Three of a kind is the number × 100 (three 1s are 1,000); four, five and six of a kind are two, three and four times that. A 1-6 straight and three pairs of different numbers are 1,500 each. The scoring table is shown under the dice while you play.
What is the best Farkle strategy?
Take the play with the best average for the turn: often that means setting aside a single 1 or 5 and rolling more dice, and banking once the points at stake are high for the dice you have left. The hint works this out exactly over all fair dice rolls. Played perfectly, a turn averages about 580 points, so about 5,800 over ten turns.
How does the daily Farkle give everyone the same dice?
Each die’s value comes from the date, the roll number in the game and the die’s place in the row. If you set aside the same dice and bank at the same moments as a friend, you see exactly the same rolls and can compare scores.