farkle

Farkle is a dice-based party game played with six standard six-sided dice. The object is to accumulate points by rolling combinations that score on a turn, with players taking turns until someone reaches a target score or has the most points after a set number of rounds. The game has many regional and house variants, and there is no single official rulebook.

On a turn, a player rolls all six dice. After each roll, the player may keep any scoring dice and roll the remaining dice again, attempting to increase their turn total. If a roll contains no scoring dice, the player farkles and ends their turn with no points earned for that round. If all six dice are scoring dice on a roll, the player may roll all six again, a situation sometimes called “hot dice,” potentially increasing the turn total further. A player must decide when to stop and bank the accumulated points, or continue rolling and risk losing the turn.

Scoring typically centers on ones and fives (for example, 100 points per 1 and 50 points per 5) and on multiples of a kind (three of a kind scores based on the value rolled, with aces often treated as 1000 points). Some editions also award points for combinations such as a straight (1-2-3-4-5-6) or three pairs. Higher multiples (four, five, or six of a kind) are common in various rulesets. Many groups play to a target such as 10,000 points, though variants exist. Strategy emphasizes balancing risk and banking, deciding when to stop versus continuing for higher scores.