Yahtzee Yatzy Yams — Play Free Online

Yahtzee Yatzy Yams is the browser version of the classic five-dice game, known as Yahtzee in North America, Yatzy in Scandinavia and Yams in France. There are no platforms to bounce off and no reflexes to train. You roll, you think, and you decide where each result is worth the most points.

A game is a fixed number of turns, one for each box on the scorecard. That makes it a calm change of pace for anyone who came to Doodle Jump for quick, repeatable runs: a full game takes a few minutes, and the only thing chasing you is the odds.

How to play

On each turn you roll five dice. You may keep any of them and re-roll the rest, up to two more times, and then you must write the result into one box on the scorecard. Every box can be used only once per game, so a bad roll sometimes means sacrificing a box you were never going to fill well.

The scorecard has two halves. The upper section scores ones through sixes by adding up the dice that match that number. Most versions of the rules give a bonus if the upper section reaches a set total. The lower section rewards combinations: three or four of a kind, a full house, small and large straights, five of a kind (the game's namesake) and a catch-all "chance" box that counts every die.

Controls in this build are pointer based: click or tap the dice you want to hold, press the roll button, then pick a box on the scorecard. A keyboard is not really needed, and a phone works as well as a desktop browser.

Tips

• Early in the game, chase the combinations that are hard to get, such as five of a kind or a large straight, while you still have many open boxes to fall back on.
• Keep the pair or triple you already have rather than splitting up dice in hope of a straight. Matching dice are the most reliable route to a good score.
• Use "chance" as your safety valve. A weak roll late in the game is better placed there than in a box you could still fill properly.
• Watch the upper-section bonus. Taking three of each number is the usual target, so a low roll of ones costs little but a low roll of sixes hurts.

Similar games on Doodle Jump

If you want something that tests timing rather than probability, Helix Jump and Bird Jumper are quick one-button style games. Fireboy and Watergirl is the pick if you want a puzzle to work through with a friend, and Bloons Tower Defense 2 is another thinking game, though it is about placing towers rather than rolling dice.

Yahtzee Yatzy Yams suits short breaks, a game in a spare few minutes, or anyone who likes a score they can try to beat next time. It runs in the browser with nothing to install.