What is Farkle?

Farkle is a push-your-luck dice game played with 6 standard dice. Players take turns rolling dice, setting aside scoring combinations, and deciding whether to bank their points or keep rolling for more. The catch: if you roll and nothing scores, you "Farkle" and lose everything you accumulated that turn.

The game goes by many names around the world: 10,000 (or Ten Thousand) in some regions, Zilch (because that's what you get when you Farkle), Greed (because the game punishes it), and it's closely related to Ship Captain Crew (the 654 dice game). The rules vary slightly between versions, but the core mechanic — risk vs. reward with dice — is universal.

Setup & Equipment

You need 6 standard six-sided dice and 2 or more players. No board, no cards, no special equipment. That's why Farkle is one of the most popular bar and travel games — you can play it anywhere with just a handful of dice.

Decide on a winning score before starting. Standard Farkle uses 10,000 points as the target. Some groups play to 5,000 for a quicker game. You also need to agree on the minimum score to "get on the board" — typically 500 points in a single turn (some variants require 1,000).

Complete Scoring Chart

This is the standard Farkle scoring system. Use the Farkle Scorer tool to calculate scores interactively.

Three of a kind: Three 1s = 1,000 points. Three of any other number = that number × 100 (three 2s = 200, three 3s = 300, three 4s = 400, three 5s = 500, three 6s = 600).

Four of a kind = double the three-of-a-kind value. Five of a kind = triple. Six of a kind = quadruple.

Special combinations (require all 6 dice): A straight (1-2-3-4-5-6) = 1,500 points. Three pairs = 1,500 points. Two triplets = 2,500 points. Four of a kind + a pair = 1,500 points.

How to Play — Step by Step

1. Roll all 6 dice
2. Set aside at least one scoring die or combination (you must keep at least one scorer per roll)
3. Decide: bank your turn score and end your turn, or roll the remaining dice for more points
4. If you roll and no dice score — that's a Farkle. You lose all points from this turn (not your banked total)
5. If all 6 dice are set aside as scorers, you get "hot dice" — roll all 6 again and keep adding to your turn score
6. First player to reach 10,000 triggers the final round — everyone else gets one more turn to try to beat them

Strategy & Probability

The fundamental decision in Farkle is when to stop rolling. Here are the odds:

• 6 dice: ~2.3% chance of Farkling (very safe to roll)
• 5 dice: ~7.7% chance of Farkling
• 4 dice: ~15.7% chance of Farkling
• 3 dice: ~27.8% chance of Farkling
• 2 dice: ~44.4% chance of Farkling (coin flip — dangerous)
• 1 die: ~66.7% chance of Farkling (very risky)

Other strategy tips: always keep three-of-a-kind over individual 1s and 5s when possible. Set aside the minimum needed to keep rolling when your turn score is low. Be more aggressive early (when you have nothing to lose) and more conservative when you have a big turn score at risk.

Variants: 654, 10000, Zilch

10,000 (Zilch): Identical to Farkle in most rulesets. The main difference is often the entry threshold — some versions require 1,000 points (instead of 500) to get on the board. The name "Zilch" comes from what you score when you Farkle.

Ship Captain Crew (the 654 dice game): This is a related but different game. Players roll 5 dice and must set aside a 6 first, then a 5, then a 4 — in that order. You cannot keep a 5 until you have a 6, and cannot keep a 4 until you have both 6 and 5. Once you have 6-5-4 (ship, captain, crew), the remaining two dice are your "cargo" score. Highest cargo wins. This is where the popular "dice game 654" and "6 5 4 dice game" searches originate.

Greed: Another regional name for Farkle. Some Greed variants add a rule where you can steal another player's banked points under certain conditions.