Farkle rules

Quick start

1. Everyone rolls 1 die, and the highest roll goes first. Choose someone to keep score. On your turn, roll all 6 dice.
2. Set aside at least 1 die that scores. A 1 is worth 100 and a 5 is worth 50. Three of a kind and other combinations score when rolled together.
3. Next, either stop and bank your turn total, which adds it to your score, or roll the remaining dice for more. When you stop, pass the dice to your left.
4. A roll with no scoring dice is a farkle. Your turn ends and you lose every point from that turn.
5. If all 6 dice have scored, you can roll all 6 again. Your first score of the game must be at least 500 points in one turn.
6. When someone reaches 10,000 or more, every other player gets one last turn to beat it. The highest score wins.

Rule sheet and score sheet

Print the whole game on one page, and a score sheet made for Farkle. Both are free PDFs for Letter paper.

Download the rule sheet

PDF, 1 page. The whole game on one page.

Download the score sheet

PDF, 1 page. Laid out for Farkle.

Setup

2 or more players. Everyone plays for themselves and shares one set of 6 dice.

You need: 6 standard six-sided dice.

• You also need paper and a pencil, or a printed score sheet.
• A cup for shaking the dice is optional. Some boxed sets include one.

1. Get 6 dice and something to write the scores on. Use a cup to shake the dice if you have one.
2. Choose someone to keep score.
3. Everyone rolls 1 die. The highest roll takes the first turn, and turns then pass to the left.

The dice for the first roll of a turn

How to play

A turn is a string of rolls. Each roll that scores adds to your turn total, and one roll that does not score wipes the total out. Points go on the score sheet only when you choose to stop.

1. Roll all 6 dice

   Start every turn by rolling all 6 dice at once.

   • If a die falls off the table, roll that die again.

2. Set aside dice that score

   After each roll, find the dice that score. A 1 or a 5 scores by itself. Other numbers score only in a combination from the scoring table, such as three of a kind. Set aside at least 1 scoring die and add its points to your turn total. Every die in a combination must come from the same roll.

   • You do not have to set aside every die that scores. If you roll two 5s, you can set aside one for 50 and roll the other again with the rest of the dice.
   • Dice from different rolls never join up. A 5 you set aside earlier and two 5s in your next roll are three single 5s worth 150. They do not count as three 5s worth 500.
   • Dice you have set aside stay out of your rolls until your turn ends or all 6 have scored.

   Three of a kind

   

   400

   A single 1

   

   100

   A single 5

   

   50

   Does not score

   

3. A roll with no score is a farkle

   If none of the dice you rolled score, that is a farkle. Your turn ends and you lose every point from this turn. Points already on the score sheet stay there. Pass the dice to the player on your left.

   • A farkle can happen on any roll, including the first roll of a turn.

4. Bank your points or roll again

   After setting dice aside, you have a choice. You can stop and bank your turn total, which means the scorekeeper adds it to your score. Banked points cannot be lost. Or you can roll the dice you have not set aside and try to add more. When you stop, the dice pass to your left.

   • There is no limit on the number of rolls in a turn. You roll until you bank or farkle.

5. Get on the board with 500

   Your first score of the game must be at least 500 points from one turn. Players often call this getting on the board. Until then you cannot stop on less, so roll on until your turn total reaches 500 or you farkle. After that first score, you can stop on any total.

   • Totals below 500 cannot be saved up over several turns. The whole 500 must come from one turn.

6. Hot dice: roll all 6 again

   When all 6 dice have been set aside as scoring dice, you have hot dice. You can pick up all 6 and roll again in the same turn. Your turn total carries on from where it was. A farkle on a later roll still loses all of it.

   • Hot dice can come from a single roll, such as a straight, or build up over several rolls.
   • Rolling again is your choice. You can bank instead, as long as you are on the board or your turn total is at least 500.
   • Hot dice can happen more than once in the same turn.

7. Play the last round

   When a player’s score reaches 10,000 or more, each other player gets one last turn to try to beat it. The game ends after those turns.

   • The player who reached 10,000 first does not roll again.
   • Scores can go past 10,000. Nobody has to land on it exactly.
   • The rule sources we checked do not say what happens in a tie. Agree on that before the last round.

Example: one turn, three rolls

You roll all 6 dice and get 5, 5, 2, 3, 4 and 6. Only the 5s score, so you set both aside for 100. You roll the other 4 dice and get 3, 3, 3 and 5. The three 3s are worth 300 and the 5 is worth 50. That 5 does not join the two 5s from your first roll to make three 5s, because they came from different rolls. Your turn total is 450 and all 6 dice have scored. That is hot dice, so you may roll all 6 again. You do, and get 1, 1, 6, 2, 6 and 4. The two 1s add 200, which makes 650. Now you have a choice. You can bank the 650, or you can roll the other 4 dice and risk losing it all.

Roll 1: all 6 dice

Set aside both 5s for 100

Roll 2: the other 4 dice

Three 3s and a 5 add 350. Turn total 450

Roll 3: hot dice, so all 6 again

Set aside both 1s for 200. Turn total 650

The choice

Bank 650, or roll these 4 dice

Scoring

Score each roll by itself, then add the rolls together for your turn total. The first table follows the rule sheet of a boxed Farkle set. Groups and other boxed sets change some of these scores, so agree on a table before you start.

• Three 1s score 300 in the first table, the same as three single 1s. Many groups play them as 1,000.
• Four, five and six of a kind score the same whatever the number. Four 1s are worth 1,000, the same as four 6s.
• A pair has no score of its own. Two 1s are worth 200 and two 5s are worth 100, as single dice.
• A straight, three pairs, four of a kind with a pair, two triplets and six of a kind each use all 6 dice, so scoring one gives you hot dice.
• The two published versions agree on every score that is not in the second table.

After a player reaches 10,000 or more, every other player gets one last turn. The player with the highest score at the end wins.

One player keeps score on paper, with a column for each player. Each time a player banks, write that turn’s points under their name and update their running total. A turn that ends in a farkle adds nothing.

A worked example: adding up one turn

Your first roll is 6, 6, 6, 1, 3 and 4. You set aside the three 6s and the 1. You roll the other 2 dice and get a 1 and a 5, so all 6 dice have scored. With hot dice you choose to roll all 6 again, and get 2, 2, 2, 5, 4 and 6. You set aside the three 2s and the 5, then bank 1,100 points.

Roll 1: all 6 dice

Three 6s and a 1: 700

Roll 2: the other 2 dice

A 1 and a 5: 150

Roll 3: all 6 dice again

Three 2s and a 5: 250

What happened	Points
Roll 1: three 6s	600
Roll 1: a single 1	100
Roll 2: a single 1	100
Roll 2: a single 5	50
Roll 3: three 2s	200
Roll 3: a single 5	50
Turn total	1,100

Scorekeeper

Each player races to 10,000. Add the points a player banks, or mark a farkle for a turn that scored nothing. A first score must be at least 500. When a player reaches 10,000, every other player gets one last turn and the highest score wins. It works in this browser, keeps the game if the page reloads, and needs no account.

Other ways to play

House rules and other versions

Three 1s score 1,000

Many groups score three 1s as 1,000 points instead of 300, and so does another published set we checked. Settle this one before the first roll.

A penalty for 3 farkles in a row

Some rules take points off a player who farkles on 3 turns in a row. One published set takes off 1,000 points. Another version takes off 500.

No opening score, or a higher one

One published set has no minimum, so any score can be banked from the first turn on. Some groups go the other way and ask for 1,000 points to get on the board.

A minimum for every turn

Some groups do not let you bank a turn worth less than 300 or 350 points, at any stage of the game.

Other scores for the big combinations

Some groups score a straight as 1,000 or 3,000 instead of 1,500. Three pairs can be 750 or 2,000, and two triplets can be 3,000.

Four or more of a kind by adding or doubling

Some groups build these scores from three of a kind. By adding, each extra matching die adds the three-of-a-kind score again, so four 2s are 400, five are 600 and six are 800. By doubling, each extra die doubles the score, so with three 1s at 1,000, four are 2,000, five are 4,000 and six are 8,000.

You must roll after hot dice

Some groups make you roll all 6 dice again after hot dice. You cannot bank until that roll is made.

Set aside every scoring die

Some groups make you set aside every scoring group of dice you roll, when that is possible. Those dice cannot be rolled again.

Piggybacking

The next player can start fresh with 6 dice or roll the dice the last player left over. If that roll scores, they add the last player’s turn total to their own. Also called high stakes.

Exactly 10,000

The winner must land on exactly 10,000. A player who goes over gives that turn’s points to the player with the lowest score.

Five dice

Some groups play with 5 dice instead of 6. Three pairs cannot be made, and five of a kind on the first roll of a turn often wins the game on the spot.

Rule questions

Words used in Farkle

Farkle

A roll in which no dice score. It ends your turn and wipes out the points from that turn.

Scoring dice

Dice that are worth points in the roll they came from: any 1, any 5, and the dice of a scoring combination.

Set aside

To put scoring dice to one side. Their points join your turn total, and they stay out of your rolls until your turn ends or all 6 dice have scored.

Turn total

The points from all your rolls so far this turn. They become yours only when you bank them.

Bank

To stop rolling and have your turn total added to your score.

Hot dice

Having all 6 dice set aside as scoring dice. You can roll all 6 again in the same turn.

On the board

Having a first score written down. The main rules ask for 500 points in one turn to get there.

Three of a kind

Three dice showing the same number in one roll. Also called a triplet.

Straight

One each of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 in a single roll of 6 dice.

Three pairs

A roll of 6 dice that makes 3 pairs, such as 2-2, 3-3 and 6-6.

Last turn

The one extra turn each other player gets after someone reaches 10,000 or more.

What you need

• 6 diceAny six-sided dice work. They do not have to match.Find it on Amazon (6 dice, opens in a new tab)
• A boxed Farkle setUsually 6 dice, a shaker cup and a score pad.Find it on Amazon (A boxed Farkle set, opens in a new tab)
• A dice tray or dice cupOptional. A tray keeps the dice on the table.Find it on Amazon (A dice tray or dice cup, opens in a new tab)
• Farkle score padsOptional. You can also print the score sheet from this site.Find it on Amazon (Farkle score pads, opens in a new tab)

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