Yatzy Booku! is the six-dice variant: twenty categories instead of thirteen, twenty rounds, up to six players, and three rolls a turn. The extra die sounds like a small change and is not. It makes categories possible that do not exist in the classic game — three pairs, five of a kind — and it means you almost always have a spare die to work with, which changes what is worth chasing.
The scoring shape, though, is familiar: an upper section of six categories with a bonus attached, and a lower section of combinations. And as in classic Yatzy, the bonus is where the game is won.
1.What six dice change
More than one extra die's worth.
With five dice, keeping three of a kind means committing three fifths of your hand. With six, the same three leaves you three dice to work with rather than two — a 50% larger re-roll. That compounds across three rolls and makes the difference between hoping and planning.
It also creates categories that classic Yatzy has no room for. Three Pairs needs six dice by definition. Five of a Kind is a genuine target rather than a near-impossibility. And 2×3 — two separate three-of-a-kinds — is a category you should actively look for, because six dice split evenly into exactly that shape.
The straights follow the same logic: Small, Large and Grand Straight are three separate categories here, and with six dice a run of five leaves a spare die that can complete a longer run rather than forcing you to break the run you have.
2.The upper bonus decides the game
Fifty points, on a threshold of 63.
The six upper categories score the total of the matching face: Fours scores four points per four you have. If those six categories total 63 or more, you get 50 bonus points.
Sixty-three is exactly what you score with three of each face — three ones, three twos, and so on up. That makes “three of each” the benchmark, and it is the most useful number to carry in your head all game.
Fifty points is enormous. It is larger than a Yatzy in most scoring schemes and far larger than any straight. A player who takes the bonus and nothing else remarkable will usually beat a player who lands one spectacular category and misses it. If you take one idea from this guide, it is that the upper section is not the boring half of the card.
Three of each is the line
3.Tracking against the benchmark
A running total that tells you what to chase.
Because 63 is three of each, you can keep a simple running balance. For every upper category you fill, note how far above or below three-of-that-face you landed. Four sixes is +6. Two threes is −3. Keep a single number.
That number tells you how to play the rest of the game. If you are comfortably positive, you can afford a weak upper category and should spend your rolls on the lower section. If you are negative, the next good upper roll is worth more than it looks, and you should be willing to pass up a decent lower score to take it.
The high faces do the heavy lifting. Being +2 on sixes is twelve points of credit; being +2 on aces is two. So a surplus of sixes and fives is worth banking, and if you are going to miss the benchmark somewhere, missing it on the low faces costs least.
Bank surplus on sixes and fives
Credit earned on a high face is worth several times the same credit on a low one. Four sixes is worth six points of headroom; four twos is worth two.
Spend your deficit on aces and twos
If the benchmark has to be missed somewhere, miss it where it is cheapest. A poor Aces costs a point or two of bonus progress.
Do not chase the bonus once it is gone
If the running balance is deeply negative with few upper categories left, the 50 is unreachable. Stop paying for it and play the lower section properly.
4.Taking a zero on purpose
Twenty categories means twenty commitments.
Every category can be used once, and with twenty rounds you will fill all of them. That means some rolls have to go somewhere bad, and choosing where is a real skill.
The principle: a zero costs you the value you could have scored there, not the value you did. Zeroing Aces costs you maybe three points. Putting a mediocre roll into Yatzy! or Grand Straight costs you the whole category — the one place a big score was still possible.
So keep a cheap category open as a dumping ground. Aces is the conventional choice and it is conventional for good reason: its maximum contribution is small and its loss barely moves the bonus balance. Chance is the opposite — it accepts any roll at face value, so it is a genuine safety net and should be held back rather than spent early on a mediocre hand.
Do not spend Chance early
5.The lower section, in order of difficulty
Which to chase and which to accept.
The lower categories are not equally hard, and treating them as a single group is how good rolls get wasted. Roughly from most reachable to least:
- One Pair, Two Pairs, Three of a Kind — you will fill these almost incidentally. Do not spend rolls on them.
- Three Pairs, Full House — six dice make both genuinely common. Worth one re-roll, not two.
- Four of a Kind, 2×3 — reachable with a plan. If you have three of a kind after the first roll, both are live and you should decide which before re-rolling.
- Small and Large Straight — the spare die helps a great deal. Keep a run of four and throw two.
- Grand Straight, Five of a Kind, Yatzy! — the long shots. Chase them only when the alternative is a wasted turn, and never at the cost of the upper bonus.
The recurring judgement is between a certain small score and a possible large one. Early in the game, take the gamble — you have categories to spare. Late, take the certainty, because an empty category at round twenty is a guaranteed zero.
6.Playing to the clock
Thirty seconds, and a default you will not like.
Each turn has a 30-second timer. If it runs out, the game assigns your dice to the lowest-value available category — a decision made for you, and rarely the one you would make.
The fix is to decide your target before your last roll rather than after it. By the second roll you should already know which two categories you are choosing between, so the third roll resolves the question rather than starting it.
This also matters for the tiebreak. Total time is the tiebreaker in a drawn game, so two players on the same score are separated by who deliberated less. That is not a reason to rush, but it is a reason not to spend twenty seconds on a turn that was obvious after the first roll.
Frequently asked questions
How is Yatzy Booku! different from normal Yatzy?
It uses six dice instead of five and has twenty scoring categories instead of thirteen. The extra die makes several categories much more reachable — three pairs and five of a kind exist here and do not in the classic game — and it changes which categories are worth chasing, because you now have a spare die on almost every roll.
What is the upper section bonus worth?
Fifty points, awarded if your six upper categories — Aces through Sixes — total 63 or more. Sixty-three is the score you get from exactly three of each face, so "three of each" is the benchmark to measure against as you go. Fifty points is a very large swing in a game where a strong total is a few hundred, which is why the upper section is where most games are decided.
When should I take a zero?
When the alternative is spending a valuable category on a poor score. A zero in Aces costs you at most a handful of points; putting a weak roll into Yatzy! or Grand Straight costs you the entire category. Late in a game the question is not whether to zero but which zero is cheapest, and Aces is almost always the answer.
How many rolls do I get?
Up to three per turn. After the first roll you may lock any dice you want to keep and re-roll the rest, and you can change which dice are locked between the second and third rolls. You can also stop early and score at any point.
What happens if the turn timer runs out?
Each turn has a 30-second timer. If it expires, the game automatically assigns your dice to the lowest-value available category, which keeps a multiplayer game moving. That default is rarely the choice you would have made, so it is worth deciding your category before your final roll rather than after it.