How to play
Farkle is a push-your-luck dice game: every roll can add to your turn, and every roll can wipe it out. Two players take turns; the first to reach the target (10,000 by default) triggers the final round. Nothing is hidden, so in friend mode you just hand the phone over between turns.
Choose Computer or Friend in the menu and a target of 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000.
A turn. Tap Roll 6 dice. Then:
- Set aside at least one scoring combination. Tap the dice you want; the game shows what the selection is worth and only lets you set aside a set that actually scores. Take best grabs the highest-scoring set in one tap.
- Now decide: Roll the remaining dice to add more, or Bank the points of the turn.
- If a roll shows no scoring dice at all, that is a Farkle: the turn ends and every point gathered this turn is lost.
- If you manage to set aside all six dice, you have hot dice: you get all six back and keep rolling with the same turn total.
Points only become safe when you bank them.
Scoring
| Dice | Points |
|---|---|
| Each 1 | 100 |
| Each 5 | 50 |
| Three of a kind | 100 × the number (three 2s = 200, three 6s = 600) |
| Three 1s | 1,000 |
| Four of a kind | twice the three-of-a-kind value |
| Five of a kind | three times |
| Six of a kind | four times |
| 1-2-3-4-5-6 | 1,500 |
| Three pairs (a four plus a pair counts) | 1,500 |
A set you put aside must be made entirely of scoring parts. A lone 2, 3, 4 or 6 can never be set aside on its own, and you cannot sneak one in next to a 1. Combinations have to appear in a single roll: two 2s from one roll and a third 2 from the next do not make a triple.
Ending the game. When a player banks a total at or above the target, the opponent gets exactly one more turn. The higher total then wins; equal totals are a draw.
Strategy
Count what is left. The chance of a Farkle grows fast as dice run out: about 2% with six dice, 8% with five, 16% with four, 28% with three, 56% with two and 67% with one. Rolling a single die for 50 more points is almost always a mistake.
Set aside less, roll more. Taking only the 1 from a roll of 1-5-2-3-4-6 leaves five dice in play; taking the 1 and the 5 leaves four. The extra 50 points rarely pay for the extra risk.
Chase hot dice when the pile is small. With two or three dice left and a modest turn total, the odds favour banking. With a big triple already banked for the turn and four dice left, one more roll is usually worth it.
Play the score. Far behind late in the game, you have to gamble. Far ahead, bank early: letting the opponent take all the risk is a strategy too.
About the computer player
The computer sets aside the best set, prefers to keep more dice in play, always takes hot dice, and banks by a threshold that depends on how many dice remain: it stops with 300 or more when one or two dice are left, 400 with three, 600 with four, and almost always rolls on with five or six. When far behind it raises its threshold, and in the final round it keeps rolling until it is ahead. Playing against itself to 5,000 over 120 simulated games, each seat won well over a quarter of them.
If you enjoy Farkle, try Five Dice or Five in a Row next.
