July 20, 2005
My New Favorite Party Game - Farkel
Has anyone played the dice game FARKEL?
Beth and I went over to a family in our church's house last night, and we had a blast playing the crazy intense game. We played 4 games of it. It is fast paced...you can build up points around the board...use other players points...and even work some strategy. Okay, so I really just think its fun to say, "farkel."
Read on for the official rules and regulations.
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. . : : FARKEL RULES AND REGULATIONS : : . .
ITEMS NEEDED:
6 dice, Pen and Paper
START
All players roll one die, high die goes first. (Winner of previous game goes first otherwise)
POINT VALUES FOR DICE
1=100
5=50
3 ones = 1000
3 twos = 200
3 threes = 300
3 fours = 400
3 fives = 500
3 sixes = 600
3 pairs = 1500
2 triplets = 2500 (example: 3 3 3 6 6 6 )
straight = 1500 (example: 1 2 3 4 5 6 )
4 of a kind = 1000
5 of a kind = 2000
6 of a kind = 3000
GAME PLAY
You must have 500 ponts to open. Roll all six dice. Hold the dice that are worth points (keep only the dice you want to keep, but you must keep at least one die worth points to continue rolling). Roll the remaining dice. Continue this until your roll results in no die worth any points ("FARKEL") or you decide not to roll further. If you score with all six dice then you get to roll all six dice again, adding the score of the previous roll to the new roll.
You cannot combine scores from different rolls to make a larger roll score. For example, if a 5 is thrown in the first roll and removed from the active dice as a score of 50, and then 2 more 5's are rolled in the next turn, the player can't make this a triple and score 500. The score at this point would be 150. Triples and straights must be rolled in one roll.
When a player is finished with their turn, the next player has the option of using the previous players points by rolling however many dice were not used by the previous player. If a 1 or a 5 is rolled, the player can use the previous players points and continue thier turn until they "farkel" or decide to stop. Example: Player One scores 1850 points and decides to stop without rolling 3 remaining dice. Player Two then has the option of resetting the score and simply rolling all six dice like normal or rolling those 3 remaining dice for the 1850 points plus whatever the dice score. If a farkel is rolled, that players turn is over. If points are scored, Player Two uses the Player Ones points (1850 pts) plus whatever they roll and may continue rolling or stop and keep thier score. The next player may use however many dice Player Two did not use, and the score continues to grow until someone "farkels" or starts thier turn over.
PLAY EXAMPLE
1st roll: 6 2 3 1 1 5 You could keep either of the 1's the 5, all three of these, or any combination of these.
Keeping 1 1, Rolling four dice, Current score = 200
2nd roll: 3 3 3 4, You would keep all the 3's (300 pts), Current score 500 (200 from 1st roll + 300 from 2nd roll) If this is your first turn or you are not on the "board" yet, you will probably want to stop here. You must have 500 points to get on the "board". You could roll the last die, but if you fail to roll a 1 or 5 then you "Farkel" and lose all the points and your turn.
WINNING
The goal is to get to 10,000 points. Once a player reaches 10,000 points or higher all other players have one turn to beat the high score. Highest score after final turn wins. (No, the player that reached 10,000 first does not get another turn if someone beats them.)
Rules adapted from the following sites: San Diego Surfing | Family Games | Board Game Geek
Posted by jonkopp at July 20, 2005 10:35 AM | TrackBack
Jon, I played this game at a friend's house and I loved it. I didn't check the rules, but is this the one where you roll a six then pick from the pile like 1-2-3-4-5, or 3 one' s, or 3 five's. I might have learned it a different way. I don't even think we used a board. We just kept points. Well, hope you're ready for the wedding...
Posted by: Josh, the brother at July 21, 2005 07:23 AMJon, this is a very fun game...but not better than Catan! Catan is the best party game. I played FARKEL before. It was a blast, I admit, but it doesn't give that rush when you know you are about to win Catan. Maybe it's my opinion, I don't know. Well, I love ya. Ladies and Gentlemen good night.
Posted by: Josh, the brother at July 22, 2005 07:20 AMI learned to play this at a hostel in Berlin and then came home to realize I didn't write down the scoring. Thank you for posting the scoring here! The Farkel website doesn't have it anywhere... guess they want you to buy their sets instead of pooling dice from multiple Yahtzee games...!
Posted by: Rachel at December 15, 2005 07:46 PMHi, this sounds a lot like another dice game I've played before and I'm looking for the instructions. Is this a spin off of a game called Greed? Do you have/know the rules to Greed?
Thanks,
Linda
I especially love this game because it is a game my whole family can play. I have children ranging in age from 5-15 and we all have fun. We all like saying "Farkel" too!!
Posted by: Nicole at July 30, 2006 11:16 PMJon -
Thanks for this site. I had a copy of the rules but gave them away. BTW, I believe that three ones is only 100 and not 1,000 as you show.
Posted by: Pat at July 31, 2006 08:24 PMNo, the scoring is right. 3 ones is worth 1000 points, not one hundred. However, i remember different scoring for 4 of a kind and five and six of a kind. The way I learned was if you rolled, say... 3 5's you'd get 500 points. If you rolled 4 5's you would get 500 plus another 500 for a total of 1000. if you rolled 5 5's you would get 1500 and six 5's would be 2000.... if it was 5 3's you rolled you would get 900 points. if it was 6 ones then you hit the jackpot and would get 4000 points.
Posted by: muzikfreak at October 3, 2006 11:55 AMI agree. 3 ones is 1000. That adds a little twist to the game and helps alot especially in getting into the game.
But, whatever works for you is always the best.
Any other differing scoring tips?
Posted by: jonkopp at November 28, 2006 07:46 PMI am one of the websites you got the info from. I wanted to update you on why I do not list the "FARKEL" rules on my website anymore. I was contacted by the person responsible for marketing "FARKEL" as they have changed the original rules and the name of "FARKLE", and asked me to remove the copywrited material. We have been evaluating the original rules and may put those on our website. Have fun.
Posted by: John Wages at January 12, 2007 06:00 PMMy family and I have played for about two years now and let me tell you that this game is so much fun. (Even thou I always lose) I rolled a 8000 point roll and had six dice to roll to add more points, when I rolled, I got a farkel. It is a game of luck for sure.
Tim
Posted by: Timothy Welborn at February 1, 2007 05:43 PM3 ones is indeed only 300 points. I have a copy of the instructions that come from PocketFarkel marketed by Legendary Games.
From their website (http://www.pocketfarkel.com/frequentquestions.html)
Q. Why do some players score three "ones" as 1000 points and not 300 points?
A. The traditional game called "Farkle" was played with just five dice and it was harder to roll three-of-a-kind. Pocket Farkel uses six dice and three of anything is a very common roll; thus, a lower score is counted.
This also explains why some people think a farkel (or farkle) is when one loses all their points by not scoring in a roll on three consecutive turns. They probably remember the traditional Farkle game.
Posted by: DanMan at March 9, 2007 02:04 AMThank you for posting the rules for Farkel. Years ago my mother taught my family how to play the dice game. I remember we all loved playing. But, thru the years we couldn't remember how to score and how many points you needed to open. I can't wait to play again. Thanks! Joanne
Posted by: Joanne at November 19, 2007 07:31 PMI was originally taught this game in the early 80's by some friends. This is what I was told...Originally it was played on a big cities Phone book, roll the dice and if any fall off that's a Farkle and your turn is over. 3 1's were 1000, and a straight was 1000 also. The company that markets Farkle only started doing so in 1996 and I was taught this game when my oldest son was 2 and he was born in 84' so about 16 years before the company got it. All they did was change the rules to suit them...LOL Us "old" timers got it right. Just kidding. Oh! And the other thing we did different was you had to have 800 accumulated before you were on the board, instead of 500. But still an awesome game however you play it.
Hugs and happy rolling,
Danielle
Posted by: Danielle at December 11, 2007 04:36 AMAfter seeing this game for six bucks at the store, I figured I could probably search to get the rules and use my own dice! I learned this game back in 1991 on a LONG train trip. Thanks for posting the rules.
Oh, and I love your site. What an adorable little girl!
Roni
Posted by: Roni at December 30, 2007 02:33 PMMy wife and I play Farkel every day almost and we are very competitive. The last game we played she got to 10,000 points first and then on my turn I tied her. With only one die left I decided a tie was better than a loss. She said I had to roll again so I did and I lost. Do do the rules say anything about that situation? Silly, I know, but I want to know anyhow since I told her I didn't have to roll if I didn't want to. Does there have to be a winner and a loser? :) Don
Posted by: Don Brasier at January 12, 2008 11:40 AMDon Brasier - You have to keep rolling. From the Official Farkel site:
"Q. Can a player come from behind, tie the game-winner and stop with dice left?
A. There are no ties in Pocket Farkel. Players must continue to roll - even if there's only one or two dice left. It's called a game of guts and luck!"
I, too, enjoy playing Farkel. I was taught that 3 1's were 1000 points and 4 were 2000 points. each additional one added 1000 to the stack, for the final score of 6 dice = 6000 points.
But as you all said, HOUSE RULES are there to change, if one wants a challenging game. :)
There really are no "Official Rules." This is considered a folk game and was just made up by a group of people and spread throughout their friends. The rules were different for everyone, until it was marketed. For a litle fun, why don't you try changing up the rules a bit, to make the game a little more challenging, or easier, depending on your preferences!
Posted by: shadeslayer at July 23, 2009 09:27 PMCan anyone help me? We play the traditional version with only 5 dice. What is the score for rolling a 5-of-a-kind in one roll?
Posted by: AC at August 16, 2009 01:48 AM