Farkel

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Farkel (also spelled Farkle) 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. The different rules will be denoted by the sub-headings "Variation 1" or Variation 2."

Contents

1 Equipment
2 Play

2.1 Variation 1
2.2 Variation 2

3 Scoring and Sets

3.1 Variation 1
3.2 Variation 2
3.3 Scoring slang

4 Winning

4.1 Variation 1
4.2 Variation 2

5 References

Equipment

Dice (6)
sheet of paper for keeping score
a cup for shaking the Dice (optional)

Play

Variation 1

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.

When a player reaches at least 350 points in a turn and decides to stop, the points for the turn are added to their total score. A player with no points may not end his turn until he has rolled a total of 1000 points in the round.

The points of each throw are counted separately. When only one die remains, the player has three throws to get points (either a one or a five spot). When all six die have points, all six die are thrown again.

Variation 2

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.

For a player who is "on the table," he may start by either:
* rolling all six dice as described above,
* or picking up the rollable dice from the last person. In this case, instead of starting this turn's scoring from zero, as usual, scoring starts from the score of the last person.

example: Player 1 stops his turn with 700 points, and opts to not roll his remaining two dice. He adds 700 to his score, and it is now Player 2's turn. Player 2 may pick up those two dice, and if he scores anything with them, he adds those points to 700, as his score. Or Player 2 may opt to start with all six dice, and start his own scoring from zero.

At the end of a turn,
* If, after rolling, a player is "off the table," and he has scored at least 500 in a turn, he is "on the table."
* If by this point, a player is "on the table," he can add whatever score he got that turn, to his total.

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.

There are 2 variations on scoring depending on the rules you play by:

Variation 1

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 : twice three-of-a-kind
five-of-a-kind : twice four-of-a-kind
six-of-a-kind : twice five-of-a-kind
three pair : 500
straight (length 6) : 1500

Variation 2

a single 1 : 100
a single 5 : 50
triple of 1's : 300
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 (aka "boxcars")
four-of-a-kind : 1000
five-of-a-kind : 2000
six-of-a-kind : 3000
three pair (aka "a doodad") : 1500 (note: a four-of-a-kind and a pair is also a doodad)
straight (length 6) : 1500
2 sets of triples on single roll : 2500

Scoring slang

450 : "Chewbacca"
5150 : "Van Hagar"
6 dice farkel (throwing 6 dice without a score) : "Grand Farkel"

Winning

Variation 1

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.

Variation 2

For a good hour of play with five or six people, you might play to 50,000 points. When the first player crosses that threshold, all other players get one more chance to top that player's score. If a player can get more points than the first person to go out, then that player wins. Otherwise, the first player to cross that threshold is the winner.

References

[Directory of Renaissance Faires Farkle instructions for Version 1]

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