How to Play
How to Play Farkle Online
Rules, scoring combinations, strategy tips — everything you need to master this classic push-your-luck dice game.
🎲 Play Farkle Free →What is Farkle?
Farkle is a classic press-your-luck dice game played with 6 dice. Players take turns rolling dice, setting aside scoring combinations, and deciding whether to bank their accumulated points for the turn or risk everything by rolling again. The first player to bank 10,000 points wins the game.
The game's central tension is simple: every roll you keep going, the bigger your potential score — but one bad roll (a Farkle) wipes out everything you earned that turn. Knowing when to push and when to stop is the entire skill of the game.
Farkle has been a family favourite since the 1980s and is known by many names: Dix Mille (France), 10,000, Zilch, Greed, and Cosmic Wimpout — all share the same press-your-luck core. Our free online version lets you play instantly against a CPU opponent with three difficulty levels.
How a Turn Works
Each turn follows these steps:
- Roll all 6 dice. Check which dice score points using the scoring chart below.
- Keep at least one scoring die. You must set aside at least one die that scores. You can keep as many scoring dice as you like.
- Decide: Roll or Bank?
- Bank — add your turn points to your total score and end your turn.
- Roll — roll the remaining free dice, hoping to score more. If no dice score, you Farkle.
- Farkle = zero. If you roll and no dice score, you lose all points accumulated that turn. Play passes to the next player.
Farkle Scoring Chart
| Combination | Points |
|---|---|
| Single 1 | 100 |
| Single 5 | 50 |
| Three 1s (triple ones) | 1,000 |
| Three 2s | 200 |
| Three 3s | 300 |
| Three 4s | 400 |
| Three 5s | 500 |
| Three 6s | 600 |
| Four of a kind | 1,000 |
| Five of a kind | 2,000 |
| Six of a kind | 3,000 |
| 1-2-3-4-5-6 Straight | 1,500 |
| Three pairs | 1,500 |
| Four + pair (4+2) | 1,500 |
* Single 1s and 5s score only when they are not part of a three-of-a-kind or other combination.
Special Rules
🎯
Getting on the Board
Your first bank must be at least 500 points. Until then, you cannot bank lower scores — you must keep rolling or Farkle trying.
🔥
Hot Dice
If ALL remaining dice in a roll score, you've hit Hot Dice! You may roll all 6 dice again while keeping your accumulated turn points. Hot Dice can chain — if all 6 score again, you get another set of 6.
💀
Farkle
Roll the dice and none score — that's a Farkle. You lose every point earned that turn and play passes to your opponent. A Farkle after Hot Dice loses the carry-over points too.
🏆
Final Round
Once a player reaches 10,000, all other players get one final turn to beat or tie the score. The player with the highest total above 10,000 wins.
Farkle Strategy Tips
🎯 Bank early when you have few dice
With only 2 dice left to roll, the probability of Farkling is around 44%. If you already have 300+ turn points, banking is almost always correct. The expected value of rolling 2 dice does not justify the risk after 300 points.
🔥 Always roll on Hot Dice
When you hit Hot Dice (all dice score), you should almost always roll all 6 again. You keep your accumulated points AND you're rolling 6 fresh dice — mathematically the best position you can be in. The only exception: if you already have 2,000+ turn points late in the game and banking guarantees a win.
🏁 Push hard to get on the board
Since you need 500 points for your first bank, take calculated risks early. Rolling with 4 dice and 300 banked points is useless — you can't cash out. Push for 500 minimum, even if it means risking a Farkle.
🥇 Endgame: play conservatively when leading
Once you're close to 10,000 and ahead of your opponent, switch to a conservative style. Bank anything above 300 points and let your opponent Farkle chasing you. A Farkle when trailing by 3,000+ points is a catastrophic mistake.
📊 Know the Farkle probabilities
The chance of getting a Farkle (zero scoring dice) varies dramatically by how many dice you roll: 6 dice ≈ 2%, 5 dice ≈ 7%, 4 dice ≈ 15%, 3 dice ≈ 28%, 2 dice ≈ 44%, 1 die ≈ 67%. Always weigh your current score against this risk.
🎲
Ready to Put These Rules to the Test?
Play Farkle free — no download, no sign-up. Solo vs CPU with 3 difficulty levels.
🎲 Play Farkle Free →