Yahtzee Words Board Game: Rules for How to Play

This post details the rules for both Word Yahtzee and Yahtzee Words. The game was originally called Word Yahtzee and recently the name was changed to Yahtzee Words. The rules for both versions of the game are mostly the same. The few differences are mentioned in the corresponding sections.

Setup

Each player takes a Score Sheet and something to write with.
Choose a player to start the game. In the newest version it says to let the oldest player start the game. Play moves clockwise during the game.

How to Play Yahtzee Words

On each of your turns you can roll the dice up to three turns.

Place all seven dice in the dice cup and roll all of them at the same time. On each dice the face-up letter is the only letter you can use. You will look at the letters you rolled and decide which letters you would like to keep. The objective of Yahtzee Words is to use the letters you roll to make words or roll all consonants/vowels. You can choose to keep any number of the dice you want from your first roll. If you don’t like any of them, you can re-roll all of the dice. Should you like all of the letters you rolled, you can keep all of them and proceed to scoring your turn. See the Scoring section below for more details.

First roll in Word Yahtzee — For their first roll this player decided to keep the S, A, and M dice. They will re-roll the rest of the dice.

In most cases you will only want to keep some of the dice that you rolled. Set the dice you want to keep aside, and then re-roll the rest of the dice. Once again you will look at the dice you rolled and decide which you want to keep and which you want to re-roll. If you want to re-roll some of the dice that you kept after your first roll, you can choose to re-roll them again for your third roll. Should you be happy with the letters you have rolled, you can choose to end your turn and not roll the dice a third time.

Second roll of the dice — After re-rolling the dice, this player decided to keep the E and wild dice. They will re-roll the C and N dice one more time.

You can roll your dice one last turn (third roll). After the third roll, you have to keep all of the letters that you rolled. After your third roll, you move onto scoring. See the Scoring section below for more information.

Final roll in Word Yahtzee — These are the letters that this player rolled between their three rolls. This player can use all of their dice to form two different words.

After you have finished scoring, your turn ends. Play passes to the player on your left. Players will keep taking turns until all of the players have taken twelve turns.

Normally you don’t use the timer, but you can choose to use it to make the game quicker. If you choose to use the timer, a player turns over the timer at the beginning of their turn. A player must say what word(s) they are going to score before or immediately when the timer runs out. If a player doesn’t say what they are going to score in time, they will choose one of the categories to score zero points for (see Scoring below).

Acceptable Words

There are some rules that you need to follow when creating words in Yahtzee Words.

You can only create words that can be found in a standard dictionary. Proper nouns, abbreviations, slang or foreign words are not allowed.
One letter words such as “I”, “A”, etc. are allowed.
On each die there is one side that has a diamond or star shape. This side is wild. It can be used as any letter, but it has no Letter Value (used in scoring).

Scoring

When a player has finished rolling the dice, they have to choose one of the twelve scoring options to fill in on their score sheet. They must fill in exactly one option each turn. Once a scoring section is filled in, you can no longer score that option for the rest of the game.

Sometimes during the game you are unable to complete any of the scoring options (that haven’t already been filled in) with the letters you rolled. When this happens, you have to choose one of the scoring options that you haven’t scored yet. You will place a score of zero in the section you chose to score.

Upper Section

Along the top of the score sheets are 2-Letter, 3-Letter, 4-Letter, 5-Letter, and 6-Letter sections. For each of these options you will try to score a word that uses the corresponding number of letters. For example in the 4-Letter section you will try to score a four letter word.

When you choose to score one of these options, add up the value printed on each letter you used in the word you created for the option. You will score nothing for the letters that you don’t use in the word. Write down your score in the corresponding section of the score sheet. Once you place a score in a scoring section (this includes zero), you cannot score that option for the rest of the game.

Scoring a four letter word — This player created a four letter word with their dice. They will score two points for the S, one point for the O, two points for the N, and four points for the G. They will not score any points for the Z, X, or U since they didn’t use them in a word. Their total score of nine for the round is written down in the 4 Letter Word section of the scoresheet.

Words

There are three sections (One Word, Two Words, Three Words) in the lower section that require you to create a number of words. To score each of these options you need to create the corresponding number of words with the dice. The length of the words do not matter. You can use one letter words. When creating multiple words you can only use each dice one time. For example you roll an “A” on one of the dice. If you only roll one A, you can only use an A in one of the words you create.

To determine your score for each of these options you will add up the value of the letters used to form the words that you used to meet the scoring condition. For example in the Three Words section you will use the letters used in the three words you created. You will not score any points for the letters not used in one of the words. Total the value of the numbers on each die you used and write the number in the corresponding section in the lower section of the score sheet.

Scoring the two words section — This player created two words with their dice. The value of all of the dice they used totals 19, which they write down in the two word section of the scoresheet.

All Consonants

Instead of trying to form words, you can choose to try and roll consonants on each of the dice. The letter “Y” counts as both a consonant and a vowel.

If you roll a consonant on all seven dice, you can score this option. The All Consonants section is worth 25 points.

All Consonants in Word Yahtzee — This player rolled all consonants on their dice. They will score 25 points for the dice.

All Vowels

Like the All Consonants option, you can try to roll all vowels on the dice instead of trying to form words with the letters you roll. The letter “Y’ counts as both a consonant and a vowel.

If you roll a vowel on all seven dice, you complete the All Vowels option. You will score 25 points. In the newest versions of the game this was increased to 35 points.

Rolling all vowels — This player has rolled a vowel on all of their dice. They will score the all vowels section. In older versions of the game the section is worth 25 points, while newer versions of the game make the section worth 35 points.

Chance

The Chance section is a sort of wild scoring option. In this section you can score any number of words and the words can be any length. You will score points for each letter you use in a word. Any letters not used in a word score zero points.

In the newest versions of the game you score the points for all seven dice whether you can use them in a word or not.

Using the Chance section — This player has decided to use the Chance section of their score sheet. In older versions of the game you only score points for the letters that you can use in words. This player would score 24 points as they were able to use all of their dice except for the U. In newer versions of the game you score every dice, so the player would score 27 points.

Yahtzee Words

Should you be able to create a word using all seven letters you rolled, you have created a Yahtzee. If you haven’t already filled in the Yahtzee Words section, you will score 50 points for the word. If you filled in the section with a zero on a previous turn, you will not score 50 points. You will have to figure out another section where you can score the letters you rolled.

If you score 50 points in the Yahtzee Words section, you can potentially score a Yahtzee bonus later in the game. Should you be able to create a word on a future team using all seven letters you rolled, you score a Yahtzee bonus. Place a check in the Yahtzee Bonus Box for every Yahtzee you create for the rest of the game. Each check is worth 100 points at the end of the game.

Scoring the Yahtzee Bonus — On a previous turn the player was able to score the Yahtzee Words section with a seven letter word. They created another seven letter word so they place a checkmark in one of the Yahtzee Bonus spaces. They also get to score one of the other sections on the scoresheet.

After placing the check mark, you need to decide where you want to score the Yahtzee. You can choose any of the options that you haven’t already scored. If you choose the All Consonants or All Vowels sections, you will write down 25 points in the corresponding section. If you choose any of the other options, you will add up the value on each of the letter dice to determine the points you score.

Winning the Game

The game ends once all of the players have completed all twelve turns. Players will tally their scores to determine the winner.

First you will add up all of your scores from the Upper Section. If your total is 45 or more points, you score 35 bonus points. Write the bonus on the corresponding section on your score sheet.

Scoring the Upper Section — This player scored a total of 50 points in the Upper Section. They scored more than 45 points so they score an additional 35 points. They will score a total of 85 points from the Upper Section.

Then total up all of the points scored in the Lower Section. Make sure to add 100 points for each check in the Yahtzee Bonus section.

Combine the points you earned in the Upper and Lower Sections to receive your total points. The player that scores the most total points wins the game.

Determining a player's final score — This player has finished scoring each of the sections. They will add up the points they earned in each section. The player scores an additional 100 points for the checkmark in the Yahtzee Bonus section. They scored a total of 341 points in the game.

Components

7 Letter Dice
Timer
Dice Cup
Score Sheets
Instructions

Year: 1978 | Publisher: E.S. Lowe, Milton Bradley, Winning Moves Games

Genres: Dice, Family, Word

Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 30 Minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.