How to Play Farkle

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Farkle is a press-your-luck dice game for two to eight players in which the tension between greed and caution drives every decision. On your turn you roll six dice, set aside any scoring dice, and choose whether to roll the remainder or pocket your points and pass the cup. Roll without scoring and you Farkle, losing everything accumulated that turn.

Its appeal lies in the simplicity of the rules against the genuine anguish of the choice to push on. The game needs nothing more than six standard dice and something to write with, which makes it a fixture at kitchen tables, campsites, and family gatherings the world over.

A little history

The origins of Farkle are unclear. Dice games built around similar press-your-luck mechanics appear across many cultures and centuries, and closely related games such as Zilch, Greed, and Ten Thousand are documented in North America from at least the mid-twentieth century. The name Farkle itself is traditionally associated with the American Midwest, but no authoritative record establishes where, when, or by whom it was coined.

Setting up

1. Seat all players around a flat surface.
2. Agree on the target score before play begins; 10,000 points is standard.
3. Agree on whether a minimum opening score is required to get on the board; 500 points is the most common threshold.
4. Choose a starting player by any fair method, such as each player rolling one die and the highest going first.
5. Keep a shared score sheet visible to all players throughout the game.

How to play

1. The active player takes all six dice and rolls them.
2. After each roll, the player must set aside at least one scoring die or combination. A player cannot choose to set aside nothing and reroll all six.
3. If no scoring dice are showing after a roll, the player has Farkled. All points accumulated this turn are lost and the dice pass to the next player.
4. After setting aside one or more scoring dice, the player may either bank their accumulated turn total and end their turn, or roll all remaining dice again to try to add more points.
5. If all six dice have been set aside as scorers at any point, the player may pick up all six dice and continue rolling, carrying their accumulated total forward. This is called a hot hand or rolling on.
6. Play passes clockwise. Each player completes their full turn before the dice move on.
7. Once any player reaches or exceeds the target score of 10,000 points and banks, every other player gets one final turn to attempt to beat that total.
8. The player with the highest score after those final turns wins. If two players tie, those players each take one further turn until the tie is broken.

Winning and scoring

The first player to bank a cumulative total of 10,000 points or more triggers the endgame. All other players then complete one final turn each. The player with the highest grand total at the end of that round wins. In the event of a tie, the tied players continue taking alternating single turns until one player finishes a turn ahead of the other.

Standard scoring values are as follows: a single 1 scores 100 points; a single 5 scores 50 points; three of a kind scores 100 multiplied by the face value shown, except three 1s which score 1,000 points; four of a kind scores double the three-of-a-kind value; five of a kind scores double the four-of-a-kind value; six of a kind scores 3,000 points. A straight of 1 through 6 in a single roll scores 1,500 points. Three pairs in a single roll scores 1,500 points. All other dice combinations score nothing.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns the minimum opening score. If your table requires 500 points to get on the board, a player who banks 350 in their turn scores nothing and must try again next time. Points are simply not recorded until the threshold is cleared in a single turn. Once a player is on the board, normal banking rules apply to any amount. Agree this rule explicitly before play starts, as tables differ widely on whether to use it at all.

A second frequent argument involves the hot hand rule. Some groups insist the player must declare their intention to continue before picking up the final scoring die; others allow the pick-up at any point. The standard ruling is that lifting all six dice constitutes a commitment to roll again, so if the player then Farkles, the full accumulated total for that turn is forfeit. Also note that when rolling on with six fresh dice, the minimum one-scoring-die rule still applies to that roll; you cannot pass without setting at least one scorer.

How to win more often

• Bank early when you are on a low score and need to get on the board. A Farkle from 450 means you stay at zero; a banked 500 gets you into the game.
• With four or fewer dice remaining and no 1s or 5s showing, the probability of a Farkle climbs sharply. Unless your turn total is modest, consider banking.
• When all six dice are available after a hot hand, your Farkle risk resets to its lowest point. This is almost always the right moment to keep rolling.
• Track the scores of other players. If a rival is close to 10,000 and you are far behind, take bigger risks rather than playing conservatively for small gains.
• Avoid setting aside single 5s when you still have several dice to roll. A lone 5 gives you 50 points but consumes a die; unless you need to satisfy the one-scorer rule, it is often better to leave it and roll it again seeking a stronger combination.

Variations

Team Farkle

Players pair up into teams of two, sitting alternately around the table. Scores are combined per team rather than per individual, and both players on a team must surpass the opening threshold before team points begin to accumulate. This format works well with six or eight players and adds a layer of shared tension to each roll.

Cutthroat Farkle

When a player Farkles, they do not merely lose their turn total; they also subtract 1,000 points from their banked score, to a minimum of zero. This variant punishes recklessness more severely and encourages conservative banking, particularly in the mid-game when accumulated scores are substantial.

Five-Die Farkle

Played with five dice rather than six, removing the possibility of a 1-through-6 straight and making three pairs impossible in a single roll. The reduced die count raises the baseline Farkle probability on each roll, shortening the game and increasing tension throughout. All other rules remain identical.

Piggybacking

In this popular variant, if a player rolls exactly the same combination as the player immediately before them, they may take that player's banked score in addition to their own turn total. The previous player loses those points permanently. This introduces a direct competitive element and makes choosing when to bank a riskier decision when high totals are on the board.

Farkle: frequently asked questions