 | |
 UK release of the game from the 1980s | |
| Other names | Cassy |
|---|---|
| Designers | Edwin Lowe |
| Illustrators | Fiore GmbH Taavi Oolberg Peyo Charles M. Schulz |
| Publishers | Milton Bradley |
| Publication | 1956 |
| Years active | 1956 – |
| Players | 2–10 |
| Playing time | 30 minutes |
| Chance | High |
| Age range | 8+ |
| Skills | |
Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley (a company that has since been acquired and assimilated by Hasbro). It was first marketed under the name of Yahtzee by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlier dice games such as Poker Dice, Yacht and Generala. It is also similar to Yatzy, which is popular in Scandinavia.
The objective of the game is to score points by rolling five dice to make certain combinations. The dice can be rolled up to three times in a turn to try to make various scoring combinations and dice must remain in the box. A game consists of thirteen rounds. After each round, the player chooses which scoring category is to be used for that round. Once a category has been used in the game, it cannot be used again. The scoring categories have varying point values, some of which are fixed values and others for which the score depends on the value of the dice. A Yahtzee is five-of-a-kind and scores 50 points, the highest of any category. The winner is the player who scores the most points.
Yahtzee was marketed by the E.S. Lowe Company from 1956 until 1973. In 1973, the Milton Bradley Company purchased the E.S. Lowe Company and assumed the rights to produce and sell Yahtzee. During Lowe's ownership, over 40 million Yahtzee games were sold worldwide. According to the current owner, Hasbro, as of 2007, 50 million Yahtzee games are sold each year.[1] A classic edition is currently being marketed by Winning Moves Games USA.