Yahtzee, the classic game of dice and strategy, can be found in its many variations online. Play it alone or against an Internet opponent!
Yahtzee, the classic game from Milton Bradley, pops up all over the Internet. It's a simple yet addictive game in which players take turns rolling five dice, re-rolling selected dice once or twice in a manner similar to draw poker. Players must score their rolls according to a handful of prescribed categories, using each category only once. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score wins.
A Yahtzee score card is divided into two halves: "Upper Scoring" and "Lower Scoring." Upper Scoring comprises six categories, one for each die face, the score equaling the sum of all dice of that number. If you roll four sixes and a one, you could take a score of 24 in the "Sixes" category. At the end of the game, if the total of your Upper Scoring section meets or exceeds 63, you gain an additional 35 bonus points.
The Lower Scoring portion resembles poker. Four categories score a flat sum if matched: 25 for a Full House, 30 for a Small Straight (four dice combination), 40 for a Large Straight, and 50 for a "Yahtzee" (five of a kind). The rest of the Lower Scoring categories take a score equal to the sum of all five dice: Three of a Kind, Four of a Kind, and the catch-all "Chance." Additional rules concerning bonus Yahtzees vary from game version to game version.
Internet play runs the gamut from solo text-only Java applets to multi-player, graphics-heavy software packages. Names for the game also vary wildly; "Yahtzee" is a restricted trademark belonging to the Milton Bradley line of Hasbro, Inc., so in general only the private sites with very small audiences will risk using the trademarked name. The more popular versions, those more likely to attract the attention of Hasbro's legal department, will often use an easily recognizable alternate.
Variations of the game abound. One of them, Deluxe Triple Yahtzee, originates with Milton Bradley itself. Online, it's often called "Triple Quintzee" and can be found as a solo play Java applet. Score cards contain three blanks for each category instead of just one, making it easier to avoid scoring a zero in the harder categories.
Another popular online version is "Matzy Yatzy," a variation involving six dice instead of five. This requires new scoring categories, such as a six-die straight and a six-of-a-kind "Yatzy." Instead of a Full House score, you get blanks for 2+3, 3+3, and 4+2, as well as Two Pair and Four Pair categories.
Rarer but also available online is "Word Yahtzee," another Yahtzee variant originating with Milton Bradley. It involves seven lettered dice with which players form as many words as possible in a given amount of time. In the original MB rules, there are categories based on word length in the Upper Scoring section, and the Lower Scoring section is made up of All Consonants, All Vowels, and Yahtzee (seven-letter) Words categories, among others.
Most online implementations are for solo play, but there are a few places where you can play against remote opponents. Among them are ToTheGames.com and Sierra's "Hoyle Online" site. Registered users of either site may enter a game lobby and sit down at a virtual table to play or watch a game. The usual conventions of chat room "netiquette" should be followed: be polite, respect others' privacy, don't SHOUT in ALL CAPS, and so forth. Etiquette specific to gaming includes refraining, when requested, from "kibitzing" (suggesting actions players should take during their turns), and asking permission before joining a game in progress.
ToTheGames.com has a two-player Yahtzee version called "DiceZ" which is available only to registered users. (Registration is free.) Non-registered users may watch games, but cannot compete in them or chat. DiceZ runs as a Flash application, making it compatible with any browser with the Macromedia plug-in installed.
Hoyle Online offers both "Yacht" and "Word Yacht"--a particularly apt name for the game, considering its history. The wealthy Canadian couple who first invented the pastime in 1954 called it "The Yacht Game," their yacht being where they most often played it. Hoyle Online uses the classic rules for Yacht, but their Word Yacht scoring categories differ somewhat from those used by Milton Bradley. Virtual game tables may seat up to four players in any lobby, but it's good manners to restrict one- or two-player games to the "Pairs and Singles" lobbies. The game plug-in requires ActiveX software to run, so players need to use Internet Explorer and allow ActiveX installations from the "hoyle.sierragames.com" domain. Players may also, if they wish, purchase Hoyle's "Facemaker" software in order to make custom "avatars," fanciful graphics to represent themselves at the virtual gaming table. A limited collection of free avatars is available for use otherwise. The Hoyle Games software available for purchase also offers online play via the "Goto"->"Internet Games" menu option.
So many variations of the classic Yahtzee game are available online that you're sure to find one that you love. Still, if you prefer to play the old fashioned way--with dice you can really roll and friends you can actually see--you might still find the Internet a useful Yahtzee resource. You can download PDF score sheets to make game setup easier, and a quick web search will settle any rules squabble that develops around your kitchen table.
