How to Play Farkle

Farkle is a dice game played with six dice. The point of the game, much like other games, is to score the most points. You need a minimum of two players to play. Players score points by rolling different combinations of dice, or Melds. Players can choose to continue to roll the remaining dice after every roll if during their previous turn they accumulated points. However, if at any point a player rolls the dice and does not get any counting dice, then their score that round is zero and it becomes the next players turn.

Learn more about specific game situations and rules.

In this tutorial, there will be examples of dice. Each dice has a different meaning.

Now that we know what the meaning of each die, lets continue the tutorial!

Rolling Dice

In Farkle, you have six dice that you can use to accumulate points. Some dice combinations are worth points. This is known as Melds. The most common Meld is 1s and 5s. A one is 100 points and a five is worth 50 points. In the example below, the player started their turn by rolling all six dice.

In this roll, the player got two scoring dice, a 1 and 5. This equates to 150 points (100 + 50). The player can now select these dice.

This player has choosen to use up both of these dice. Now, the player can choose to end their turn and keep the 150 points, or roll their remaining four dice in hope for more points. Remember, if the player doesn't roll a scoring dice, their 150 points will be lost.

And Rolling

"And Rolling" is a situation in Farkle that results in all of the dice being used and therefore being reset back to standard. This is what it looks like.

In this example, five dice are used. The standard dice is a 5, which means we can continue to play.

Now, the player can either choose to roll again, or end their turn. Any player in this situation should roll again because they get to roll all six dice. There is a chance you don't get a scoring dice out of six dice, but the odds are very small.

As you can see, because all six dice are used, the dice are rolled and all reset back to standard.

Farkle

Farkle is a situation where the player decides to roll again, but doesn't roll a scoring dice. This means that the player loses their points that round. Let me show you.

In this roll, the player has a 5, which is a scoring dice. They are able to continue their turn.

The player has selected the 5 which is contributing to their score. Now they have to choose if they want to roll again, or end their turn. If they choose to roll again, they would be rolling two dice. These are not great odds. For this example, the player chooses to roll again.

The player did not roll a scoring dice. This means that their score is lost and it is the next players turn. This is known as a "Farkle".

Looking for another section? Click below to find more specific game situations and rules.

Scoring

Scoring in Farkle is fairly easy. You just need to know the melds and their values. When the players starts their turn, you start counting their points. Lets go through a round. In this example, lets say that it is not this players first round and they already have 600 points.

Here, the player has rolled a few scoring dice. There is three of a kind with 2s and a 1. This adds to 300 points. When playing strategic, you might not want to select the 2s, but in this example the player is going to select them.

Learn more about this strategy.

The player now has accumulated 300 points. They have the option to roll again with 2 dice, or end their turn and save their score. This player chooses to end their turn. This bumps their score to 900 because they already had 600 points and they just recieved another 300. Now it is the next players turn.

There is a variation in farkle that allows the next player to use the points the previous player had.

Learn more about this variation.