How to play Farkle: rules and scoring

Rules in short: on your turn, roll six dice and set aside at least one die that scores. Then either bank your points for the turn or roll the dice you have left to try for more. If a roll has nothing that scores, that is a Farkle and you lose every point from that turn. The first player to reach 10,000 starts the final round, and the highest score wins.

What you need A turn Scoring chart Hot dice Winning Example Odds Strategy House rules FAQ

What you need

Six standard six-sided dice, a cup to roll them in if you like, and paper for the scores. Decide who goes first by having everyone roll one die; the highest goes first and play moves to the left. On Snug Table every die comes from provably fair dice that are sealed before the game starts, and you can check every roll when the game is over.

How a turn works

1. Roll all six dice.
2. Set aside at least one scoring die. You can keep as many scoring dice as you want, but you must keep at least one. The dice you set aside add to your points for this turn. Only dice that are part of a scoring combination count: a 2 on its own scores nothing and can't be set aside.
3. Bank or roll. Bank, and your turn points go onto your total and the dice pass to the next player. Or roll the dice you didn't set aside and try to add more.
4. Farkle. If a roll shows nothing that scores, you Farkle: the turn is over and every point you collected this turn is gone. Points you banked on earlier turns are safe.

Scoring combinations count only within a single roll. If you set aside one 4 and later roll two more 4s, that is not three of a kind.

Farkle scoring chart

This is the scoring Snug Table uses, a widely used modern version. Many families use slightly different numbers; see house rules.

The six-dice combinations need all six dice in one roll. If one roll fits more than one row, it scores the best way: 4-4-4-4-1-1 is four of a kind and a pair (1,500), not 1,000 + 200. Extra 1s and 5s can be added to a triple: 5-5-5-1 is 500 + 100 = 600.

Print this chart

Hot dice

If every one of your six dice has scored during the turn, you have hot dice: pick all six up and keep rolling, with your turn points still building. You can also bank instead. Hot dice can happen more than once in a turn, and a Farkle on any roll still loses everything from the whole turn.

Getting to 10,000 and winning

When a player banks and their total reaches 10,000 or more, every other player gets one last turn to beat it. After that the highest total wins. If two players tie for the top, they share the win (or roll off, if you prefer). On Snug Table you can also play a quicker game to 5,000.

An example turn

The odds of a Farkle

The fewer dice you roll, the more likely nothing scores. These are the exact chances for the scoring above:

Farkle strategy

We worked these out by computing the best decision for every possible roll, the same calculation our coach uses. It aims for the most points per turn on average; near the end of the game, play to win instead (below).

• Keep fewer dice. With a 1 and a 5 and nothing else, keep only the 1 and roll five dice. With two 5s, keep one. Rolling more dice is usually worth more than an extra 50.
• When to bank. Keep rolling while your turn total is under about 300 with one or two dice left, under 450 with three, and under 1,000 with four. With five or six dice left, almost always roll.
• One die is not hopeless. A single die scores a third of the time, and if it does you have hot dice and all six back. With fewer than 350 points, that roll is worth it.
• Play an average turn. Playing this way, a turn is worth about 600 points on average, so a game to 10,000 takes most players around 17 turns.
• The final round is different. If someone has already reached 10,000, banking less than you need is the same as losing. Keep rolling until you pass the leader.

Common house rules

• Getting on the board: your first bank must be at least 500 (some say 350 or 1,000). Snug Table offers 500 as an option.
• Three Farkles in a row: lose 1,000 points. An option on Snug Table.
• Doubling: four of a kind is worth double the three of a kind, five is double again, and six is double again (so four 2s are 400, five 2s 800).
• Three 1s for 300 instead of 1,000, in older rule sheets.
• Small straights: 1-2-3-4-5 for 500 and 2-3-4-5-6 for 750.
• Six dice with nothing at all scores 500 instead of being a Farkle.
• Piggybacking: the next player may take over your remaining dice and turn points instead of starting fresh.

Agree on house rules before you start; when nobody remembers, the chart above is a safe default.