Each player rolls his dice up to three times per turn, in hopes of getting one of the 13 categories. There are 13 categories such as 'three of a kind', 'four of a kind', 'straight', very similar to the 'hands' in Poker, with a few extra ones thrown in.

The Yahtzee player chooses a certain combination first and then rolls the dice to try and get that combination. It's a simple game that is largely dependent on the players' luck. It is said to have been derived from a number of traditional dice games such as Puerto Rican game Genarala, and English games Cheerio and Poker Dice. Currently, at least 50 million games are sold each year.īut the roots of the game go way back in game history. It was after this milestone that the game earned millions of fans. But eventually, the Milton Bradley Company bought over the Edwin Lowe Company, along with the Yahtzee rights in the 1970s. After this over 40 million games were sold in America and around the globe. The game had to be played to be appreciated. Initially the game did not sell too well, so Lowe started throwing Yahtzee parties, believing in the power of word of mouth. Lowe then changed the name of the game to 'Yahtzee'. Lowe liked the game so much, that he offered to buy the rights for the game in exchange for the first thousand games produced. Lowe and asked him to make a few samples of their infamous 'Yacht game', to distribute as gifts. But according to Hasbro, the current owners of the rights of the game, it was invented in 1954 by a Canadian couple who often played it with friends on their yacht.Īnd in 1956, the couple is said to have visited a toy-maker called Edwin. It is said to have been made by Milton Bradley in the 1950s.

So where did it all start? The exact origin of Yahtzee is not very clear. It can be played by any number of people - in a large group or even by a single player (Solitaire). The player with the greatest grand total wins the game and therefore earns the difference between his score and that of his opponents. The object of the game is to make the maximum number of points. Like any other dice game, it involves rolling dice (five), matching them and pairing them for points. It is a game of great chance, luck and also of smart thinking and strategy. Several variations of dice games have been invented since its origin. The traditional spotted dice cube is considered to be on of the oldest form of gambling by Historians.

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