How to play Farkle
You need six ordinary dice, a pencil or this page, and at least two players. Decide on a target score first; 10,000 is the usual choice.
- Roll all six diceAt the start of your turn, throw all six dice at once.
- Keep at least one scoring diePull out one or more dice that score, such as a 1, a 5 or three of a kind. You must keep at least one scoring die from every roll.
- Bank or roll againEither stop and add the turn's points to your total, or pick up the dice you did not keep and roll them for more.
- Hot diceIf every one of the six dice has scored, pick all six up again and keep going. The points you have built so far stay in the turn.
- A Farkle ends the turn with zeroIf a roll contains no scoring dice at all, you lose every point from that turn and the dice pass to the next player.
- Reach the target, then a final roundWhen someone banks enough to reach the target, everyone else gets one last turn to beat it. The highest total wins.
Farkle scoring chart
The chart below shows a common scoring set. Groups vary, so pick one version before you start and stick to it for the whole game.
| Dice | Points |
|---|---|
| Single 1 | 100 |
| Single 5 | 50 |
| Three 1s | 1,000 |
| Three 2s | 200 |
| Three 3s | 300 |
| Three 4s | 400 |
| Three 5s | 500 |
| Three 6s | 600 |
| Four of a kind | Commonly 1,000 |
| Five of a kind | Commonly 2,000 |
| Six of a kind | Commonly 3,000 |
| Straight (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) | Commonly 1,500 |
| Three pairs | Commonly 1,500 |
| Hot dice (all six dice score) | Roll all six again and keep the turn total |
Only dice from the same roll can combine. Three 4s count as 400 only when they land together; a 4 kept from one roll and two more from the next are worth nothing. Twos, threes, fours and sixes score only as part of a set, so a lone 2 is not a scoring die.
Like a quick dice game with a fixed card? Our Yahtzee-style score card covers the other big family of dice games and totals the bonuses for you.
Common house rules
Farkle has been passed around kitchen tables for a long time, so almost every group plays it a little differently. The score sheet above has a switch for each of the three most common changes.
Opening minimum
Some tables say you cannot bank your first points until a single turn is worth a set amount, usually 300 or 500. Until then your turn only counts if you push on and reach the minimum. Choose off, 300 or 500 on the sheet; it blocks a bank that is too small and tells you why.
Three Farkles in a row
A popular penalty takes 1,000 points away from anyone who Farkles on three turns in a row. The sheet counts each player's streak, applies the penalty on the third one, and never lets a total drop below zero.
Final round
Most groups let everyone else take one more turn after a player reaches the target, so the first player to cross the line is not automatically the winner. The sheet tracks that round and announces the winner, or a tie, when it ends.
Printable Farkle score sheet
Prefer paper? Press Print blank sheet under the score sheet for a page with six player columns, twenty turn rows and a total line. Press Print this game to print the scores you have already entered. In the print dialog you can also choose Save as PDF to keep a copy on your phone or computer.
Last reviewed October 22, 2026. Rules written in our own words.