Farkel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Farkel is a dice game that dates back many years. Some even trace it back to the days of the renaissance. There are 2 main variations of the game of Farkel. While very similar, there are slight differences in game play. The Equipment needed is the same for both.
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[edit] Equipment
- Dice (6)
- sheet of paper for keeping score
- a cup for shaking the Dice (optional)
[edit] Play
The rules for Farkle will vary according to the group. There are several different variations and rules for scoring. This is one variation.
The first player is chosen by having each player roll one die. The highest roll is the first player to start. At the beginning of each turn, the player throws all six six-sided dice. If any dice are not lying flat or on the playing surface, they (only the dice not laying flat or on the playing surface) must be thrown over again. After each throw some or all of the points possible must be taken, setting aside each die that is counted. To continue, all of the die not counted must be thrown again. At each throw, points must be made or the turn ends. When no points are scored in a throw, this is called farkle.
In order to "get on the board" and have the player's points start counting, they have to score at least 750 points in a turn. Until they get at least 750 points, none of their points count. For example, when everyone first starts playing, if any player were to score only 200 points each time their turn came up, they wouldn't get to count any of the points, until they've scored at least 750 points total in their turn. Once they do, they can start counting whatever points they roll.
The points of each throw are counted separately. When all six die have points, all six die are thrown again.
- Everyone starts out "off the table." Each player collects points during his turn, which he may add to his total, or not, depending on how aggressively or cautiously he plays.
- To begin a turn if the player is "off the table," he rolls all six dice.
- As he rolls during his turn, the player is looking to score points, in the form of Sets (see figure below).
- If a roll scores any points, he may set aside each Set he wants to claim points from, and either:
- roll all remaining dice, hoping to score additional Sets.
- or if all six dice are put aside into Sets, roll all six dice again, hoping to score additional Sets.
- or pass play to the next player, if he deems the chance of failure to be too great.
- If a roll scores no points, the player forfeits the points scored that turn, and play is passed to the next player.
- At the end of a turn,
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- If, after rolling, a player is "off the table," and he has scored at least 750 in a turn, he is "on the table."
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- If by this point, a player is "on the table," he can add whatever score he got that turn, to his total.
[edit] Scoring and Sets
The following Sets are given for scoring. You cannot put sets together, as you are expected to in Yahtzee. If you set aside a triple of 5's, then rolled a single 5, you could not claim a four-of-a-kind. You could merely claim one triple of 5's, and one single 5. Your score would not be 500 x 2 = 1000, it would be 500 + 50 = 550. You DO NOT have to score all possible dice in a throw, but you must count at least 1 die to continue rolling.
a single 1 : 100
a single 5 : 50
triple of 1's : 1000
triple of 2's : 200
triple of 3's : 300
triple of 4's : 400
triple of 5's : 500
triple of 6's : 600
four-of-a-kind : 1000
five-of-a-kind : 2000
six-of-a-kind : 3000
three pair : 1500
two triplets: 2500
straight (1-6) : 1500
[edit] Winning
The first player to end their turn scoring more than 10,000 points signals the final round. Each remaining player has one last turn to get the points necessary to surpass the high-score. When the last player in the final round is done, the player with the greatest number of points is declared the winner.
[edit] Variations
"Running" With Prior Points: A player may choose to roll the remaining dice from the previous player's scoring turn (i.e. only if they didn't farkel) rather than roll all six dice to "run" with that player's score on that turn. For example, if the previous player scored 1000 points on four dice and had two remaining dice, the next player may roll those two remaining dice and add 1000 to any points they roll. In this way a bold player may score off of a timid player's lack of bravery.
"Doubles" Scoring: The score for four of a kind is double the score for three of a kind of that value, the score for five of a kind is double that, and the score for six of a kind doubles that. For example:
3 ones = 1000 4 ones = 2000 5 ones = 4000 6 ones = 8000 3 twos = 200 4 twos = 400 5 twos = 800 6 twos = 1600 etc.
[edit] Related Games
[edit] Trivia
Sierra Games includes a version of Farkel, called Zilch, in one of their Hoyle series of games.
