How to play Farkle

Farkle in six steps

1. Pick who goes first. Everyone rolls one die. The highest roll goes first, and play passes to the left.
2. Roll all six dice. Every turn starts by rolling all six dice.
3. Set aside scoring dice. From each roll, set aside at least one scoring die or combination. Each 1 is 100, each 5 is 50, and three of a kind is 100 times the number. Three 1s are worth 1,000 or 300, depending on your group.
4. Bank, or roll the rest. Stop and bank the turn’s points, or roll the dice you didn’t set aside. If all six are set aside, that’s hot dice: roll all six again and keep adding. In most groups, a player’s first bank must be at least 500.
5. Don’t farkle. A roll with nothing that scores is a farkle: the turn ends and its points are lost. Points banked on earlier turns are safe.
6. Race to 10,000. Once a player banks 10,000 or more, everyone else gets one last turn to beat that total. The highest total wins.

What you need

• 6 dice.
• A score sheet and a pencil. One player keeps score for the table. Our free Farkle score sheet has room for up to 6 players.
• A scoring chart everyone can see, so nobody has to ask what three pairs are worth. Print our Farkle scoring chart and write in your group’s own values.
• 2 or more players. 3 to 6 at a table is the sweet spot (see Playing with a bigger group).

Who goes first

Choose one player to keep score. Then everyone rolls one die: the highest roll goes first, and play passes to the left. If players tie for the highest roll, they roll again. A die that rolls off the table is rolled again.

Taking a turn

Start your turn by rolling all six dice. Then:

• Set aside at least one scoring die or combination. 1s and 5s score on their own, and three of a kind and the bigger combinations score together (see What scores). You don’t have to set aside every scoring die: keeping fewer leaves you more dice to roll.
• Bank, or roll on. To bank, you stop, the scorekeeper writes down your turn’s points, and the dice pass to the left. To roll on, pick up the dice you didn’t set aside and roll them, looking for more scoring dice.

A combination only counts if all its dice come up in the same roll. If you set aside a 5 and then roll two more 5s, that’s three single 5s for 150, not three 5s for 500.

What scores

The points most groups agree on:

• Each 1: 100. Each 5: 50.
• Three of a kind: 100 times the number. Three 2s are 200, three 3s are 300, and so on up to three 6s at 600.
• Three 1s: 1,000 or 300. Most rule sites and phone apps say 1,000. The rule sheet in the Farkle box says 300. Agree on one before you start.
• Bigger combinations, such as four, five or six of a kind, a 1-to-6 straight, three pairs and two triplets, score more. They’re also where groups’ charts differ most.

2s, 3s, 4s and 6s don’t score on their own. The full chart, with the ways groups change it, is in Farkle scoring.

Farkle!

If a roll has nothing that scores, that’s a farkle. (It’s a verb too: “I farkled.”) Your turn ends at once, and you lose every point from that turn. Points you banked on earlier turns are safe.

The fewer dice you roll, the more likely a farkle. On the chart in the Farkle box:

Over a whole turn, about 1 turn in 5 ends in a farkle.

Hot dice

When you’ve set aside all six dice, in one roll or over several, you have hot dice: pick up all six and roll again, adding to the same turn. It can happen any number of times in one turn. Some players call it “turning the corner” or a “free roll”.

Groups differ on two things. In most, rolling hot dice is your choice, and you can bank instead; some groups say you must roll them. And a few give a bonus for hot dice, such as 500 or 1,000.

Getting on the board

In most groups, a player’s first score has to be at least 500 in one turn. That’s called getting on the board. Until then, a player can’t bank less than 500: they keep rolling until they reach it or farkle. Once they’re on the board, they can bank any amount.

500 is by far the most common minimum, and it’s the one in the Farkle box. Some groups use 1,000, some a smaller number such as 350, and some have no minimum at all. A few need a minimum, such as 300 or 350, on every turn, not just the first.

Three farkles in a row

The Farkle box has no penalty for farkles: once points are banked, they’re yours. A popular house rule, common in phone apps, adds one: three farkles in a row costs 1,000 points, or 500 in some versions. A rarer rule takes points off for every farkle, and some groups skip penalties altogether, especially when children play.

If your group plays a penalty, settle two things the rule sheets don’t cover: whether the count starts again after the penalty, and whether a total can go below zero.

Winning: 10,000 and the final round

The usual game is to 10,000. As soon as a player banks 10,000 or more, the final round begins: every other player gets one last turn to beat that total. The player who got there doesn’t roll again. Then the highest total wins, and that isn’t always the player who reached 10,000 first.

Groups vary here too. Some play a shorter game to 5,000. Some finish the trip around the table instead, so everyone has had the same number of turns. Some say the first to reach the target wins on the spot. And a few need exactly 10,000, a rule sometimes called welfare.

Ties. No printed rule covers a tie. The last turns are to beat the total, so matching it doesn’t win, but two players can still finish level. Agree on a tiebreak before you start. A simple one, and the one Farkle Circle uses, is that the tied players take one more turn each, and the higher total wins.

Playing with a bigger group

Farkle has no set number of players: the box says 2 or more. But everyone waits through everyone else’s turns, so a big table gets slow. 3 to 6 at a table works best, and 8 is a sensible most. A bigger group can split into tables, the way Farkle tournaments use tables of 4, or play in teams to 20,000, adding partners’ scores together.

How long a game takes depends mostly on how many are at the table. The box says 30 minutes, which fits 2 or 3 players. A table of 4 takes roughly 40 to 50 minutes to reach 10,000, and a game to 5,000 about half as long.

Unlike Bunco, Farkle has no traditional way of moving players between tables. In Farkle Circle, your group chooses: stay at your tables all night, or play a set number of turns so the tables finish together, and each table’s winner moves up.

Other names and house rules

Farkle is a folk game: nobody owns its rules, which is why every group’s are a little different. You may know it as Farkel, Ten Thousand, 10,000, Dix Mille, Zilch, Greed, Zonk, Hot Dice or 5000.

House rules you might meet:

• Piggybacking, also called high stakes: the next player may start by rolling the dice the last player left, and if they score, take over the last player’s points for that turn.
• Toxic twos: rolling four or more 2s wipes out the turn’s points, or in some groups the player’s whole score.
• Team Farkle: partners sit across from each other, add their scores together, and play to 20,000.
• Five-dice Farkle, played with five dice and no three pairs.
• No points for single 5s, in a few groups.
• A kids’ version that scores only 1s, 5s and three of a kind.

Questions people ask

How many dice do you need to play Farkle?

Six. Every turn starts by rolling all six, and hot dice let you roll all six again.

How many people can play Farkle?

Two or more. Three to six at a table works best, and eight is a sensible most. Bigger groups split into tables or play in teams.

What happens when you farkle?

Your turn ends and you lose the points from that turn. Points banked on earlier turns are safe, unless your group plays a penalty for three farkles in a row.

What are hot dice in Farkle?

When all six dice have been set aside in one turn, you pick up all six and roll again, adding to the same turn. In most groups it’s your choice whether to roll them or bank.

Do you need 500 points to get on the board in Farkle?

In most groups, yes: a player’s first score must be at least 500 in one turn. Some groups use 1,000, a smaller number, or no minimum at all.

What score do you play to in Farkle?

10,000 is the usual target. Once a player gets there, everyone else gets one last turn to beat their total. A shorter game goes to 5,000.