About Yahtzy

Game thumbnail image

Roll five dice and try to make three-of-a-kind, a full house, or even a Yahtzy!

Play the game

About

Yahtzy, which is very similar to poker dice, is a classic dice game played with five dice. The goal is to score points by rolling five dice to make certain combinations. Each player takes turns rolling the dice, and after each roll, the player can choose which dice to keep and which to re-roll. The dice can be re-rolled up to three times per turn. After the third roll, the player must choose a category to score in.

Originally, I built the Yahtzy game as an assignment for a university course. The true “v1” of this game was built in VB.NET with Winforms (true story!). After submitting the assignment, I decided to rebuild it using JavaScript.

How to Play

  • Roll the dice by clicking the Roll button.

  • Select the dice you want to keep by clicking on them. The borders of the dice turn red when you have a hold on them.

  • Roll the dice up to three times per turn.

  • After the third roll, you must choose a category to score in.

    • The available categories are displayed above the dice. Click on a category to select a category. The border of the category you’ve selected turns yellow.

    • Click Enter to confirm your choice and score the points.

  • After choosing a category, the turn is over and it’s the next player’s turn.

  • The game ends when all categories have been scored.

  • Click Reset to start the game over.

Known issues

  • The “AI opponents” will always score in a set pattern. They don’t really “think”.