Yacht

Five-dice scoring game — the 1938 predecessor of Yahtzee, with 12 categories and a maximum 'yacht' bonus.

🌤indoor

What is Yacht?

Yacht is a public-domain five-dice scoring game first described in Hoyle's Rules of Games in 1938 — a direct predecessor of Yahtzee. Each turn a player rolls five dice up to three times, then scores in one of 12 unused categories (Ones through Sixes, Full House, Four of a Kind, Little Straight 1-2-3-4-5, Big Straight 2-3-4-5-6, Choice and Yacht). Yacht = five of a kind, worth 50 points.

Quick facts

Category

Dice Games

Type

Individual

Players

2–8

Where played

indoor

Country of origin

🇺🇸 United States

Estimated origin

1938, described in 'Hoyle's Rules of Games' — precursor to Yahtzee

Olympic

No

Popularity

regional

Sources & provenance

Last verified 2026-08-24.verified