Yatzy

Three Rolls, Thirteen Boxes, One High Score. Free Online

Play Yatzy free online in your browser, against the computer or by taking turns with friends over days, with no download or account needed.

Yatzy is the dice game with the score card everyone has filled in at a kitchen table at least once. Five dice, three rolls a turn, thirteen boxes to fill, and one decision after every roll: keep the pair and go for a full house, or throw everything back and chase the straight? The rules fit on the card itself, but the game never plays the same way twice, because every roll changes which box you are hoping for.

This version plays the classic thirteen-box card with the 35-point upper bonus, the 100-point bonus for a second Yatzy and the joker rule. Sit down against one, two or three computer players, each a named regular with a personality, or take turns with friends in the app: start a game, send a link, and play your turn whenever it suits you, over days if you like. It is free here at CardAndPuzzle.com, plays in your browser with no download or sign-up, and saves your match on your device.

How Do You Play Yatzy?

A turn takes about thirty seconds, and the first match opens with the rules card:

• Roll: Tap Roll and all five dice tumble onto the tray. You have three rolls a turn, shown as pips on the button.
• Keep: Tap a die to keep it; it rises to the rail and sits out the next roll. Tap it again to put it back in play. Roll again with the dice you did not keep.
• Pick a Box: After any roll, tap one of the thirteen boxes on your card. The card previews what each open box would score with the dice you are holding, with the boxes that score picked out and the zeros kept quiet.
• Play: Tap Play to bank the score. A box is filled once and stays filled, so choose with care. If nothing fits, you have to put a zero somewhere.
• Thirteen Rounds: Everyone fills every box, round after round. The title keeps count, 3 of 13, and the highest grand total wins.

Want every box, the bonus and the joker rule explained? Read the complete Yatzy Guide →

How Is Yatzy Scored?

The score card has an upper section for the numbers and a lower section for the combinations:

Sixty-three in the upper section is three of each number, so the bonus track on the card fills toward 63 and tells you whether you are ahead of that pace. A second Yatzy is worth 100 and then goes in the matching number box if it is open, otherwise in any open lower box at its full value, otherwise as a zero up top. After thirteen rounds the highest total wins; a tie goes to whoever earned more Yatzy bonuses.

Can You Play Yatzy with Friends?

Yes, by taking turns. Yatzy is a game of short turns and long pauses between them, so it is played with friends the way you would play by post:

• Start a Game: In the Card & Puzzle app, choose Play with friends, pick who you want to play, and tap Start, or get a link for the seats you have left open.
• Invite with a Link: Anyone who opens the link takes the next open seat, whether or not they were on your list. Two to four people can play.
• Play When You Like: Each person plays their turn whenever it suits them, over days if they want, and the app tells you when it is yours. When you open the game, the turns played since you last looked are replayed for you.
• Nobody Waits Forever: A seat that lets fourteen days go by is played on by the computer when there are three or four of you. With two, the game ends unfinished and nobody is charged a loss.
• Rolled on the Server: The dice in a game with friends are rolled by the play server, so everyone sees the same roll.

Got a link or a code from a friend? Use the box above to find their game.

Who Are You Playing Against?

Before the first roll you choose one, two or three opponents. They are not an easy, medium and hard setting; they are named regulars, each with a way of playing:

• Sixteen Regulars: Nova, Sam, Atlas, Ruby, Sage, Max, Luna, Felix, Echo, Juno, Remy, Iris, Bo, Mia, Cleo and Leo, each with a face, a short bio and a personality.
• You Can Watch Them Roll: An opponent's turn plays out on your tray, with the dice they keep and the box they choose, and a chip flies to their seat when the score lands. Tap any seat to look at that player's card.
• Table Talk: The regulars react to the game with short remarks when a Yatzy comes up or a turn goes badly. If you prefer a quiet table, it switches off in the settings.

What Are the Best Yatzy Strategies?

• Chase the Bonus Early: Thirty-five points is worth more than any single lower box except the Yatzy. Aim for three of each number up top, and take four Fives or four Sixes when they come, because they buy you slack on the low numbers.
• Keep the High Pair: On a first roll with no plan, keep the highest pair. It leads toward three and four of a kind, which score the total of all five dice, and toward a full house.
• Know When to Chase a Straight: Four in a row after the first roll is worth going for; the small straight is already in hand and the large is one die away. Three in a row is a gamble you should usually pass up unless the straights are the only boxes left.
• Chance Is Not a Dumping Ground: Save it for a high roll that fits nothing else, twenty-five or more. Using it early on a weak roll throws away one of the best boxes on the card.
• Scratch the Right Box: When a turn fails, zero the box you were least likely to fill anyway: Yatzy if you have never seen one, Ones if you are already past the bonus pace, Large straight late in the game.
• Count the Rounds: With three boxes left, play the odds for those boxes alone. A pair of Sixes with only Chance, Fours and Yatzy open is a different roll from the same pair on round one.
• Hold the Extra Roll: Against the computer, a fourth roll once a turn can finish a Yatzy or a large straight. Spend it on a roll where one die decides fifty points, not on a pair of Twos.

Why Play Yatzy Here?

• The Classic Card: Thirteen boxes, the 35-point bonus at 63, 50 for a Yatzy, 100 for every one after it, and the joker rule, exactly as the card is filled in at a real table.
• Take Turns with Friends: Start a game in the app, invite with a link, and play your turn when you like.
• Regulars with Personality: Sixteen named computer players with different temperaments instead of a difficulty slider, and you choose how many sit down.
• Dice You Can Read: The dice tumble onto the tray, held dice rise to a rail and wear a pin, so you never lose track of which ones are staying, and the card previews every box before you commit.
• Play, Then Commit: Tapping a box selects it; Play banks it. No score is written by accident.
• An Extra Roll and a Hint: A fourth roll, once a turn against the computer, and a hint that shows what the game's own strategy would keep or play, for a coin in the app or a short ad.
• Free in Your Browser: No download, no app store, no account needed. It works the moment the page loads, on any device, in portrait or landscape.
• Picks Up Where You Left Off: Your match in progress, your lifetime stats and your settings all save automatically on your device, and on every device once you sign in.

Five Dice, One Decision

Every turn of Yatzy comes down to the same quiet moment: the dice have landed, two of them are Sixes, and you have two rolls to decide what this turn is going to be. Chase the Sixes for the bonus. Hold the pair and hope for a full house. Throw them all back because the straights are still open and you are feeling lucky. The best turns are the ones where the third roll lands exactly what you asked for; the worst are the ones where you scratch the Yatzy box and roll five Fours on the next turn. Roll the dice and find out which kind of day it is.

More Free Games

If you like a game that plays out on a table, Mexican Train Dominoes is here with the full rules and printables, and Mahjong Solitaire is the tile-matching game where every deal can be solved. For cards with friends, Crazy 8s, Hearts, Spades and Euchre all play at a table with up to four people, and there is always a game of Klondike Solitaire to unwind with.