Zilch Rules

Zilch Online

Play the game online against the computer, or against friends (hot seat mode). The screens are plain so that they're accessible by internet-ready phones. This is a great way to learn how the rules work!

Scoring

• 1 = 100 points
• 6 = 50 points
• 3 of kind = that number times 100. Three 2's = 200, Three 3's = 300, etc. Special consideration is given to ones (Three 1's = 1000) and sixes (Three 6's = 600).
• Straight (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in a SINGLE roll) = 1500 permanent points. That is, even if you zilch in that turn, you don't lose points from the straight.

Rolling

• A player rolls all six dice to begin their turn. Any dice that generate points are set aside after being tallied. They do NOT factor in with or count toward any SUBSEQUENT rolls! E.g., if you rolled 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4 you would set aside the two ones (200 points) and roll the remaining (non-scoring) four dice. If your second roll produces 1, 2, 3, 3 then your total for the turn would be 300, not 1000. Even though you have three ones, they would not count as "three of a kind" because they were rolled in DIFFERENT throws.
• Whenever a roll does not produce any points the player has rolled a ZILCH. When a player zilches, then all points scored for that TURN are lost (except points scored via a permanent straight). A zilch ends a player's turn, even if they zilched on the first throw of their turn.
• As a player sets aside the point-scoring dice they may eventually have all six dice set aside. When that occurs, a note is made of the player's score so far. They can then pick up all six dice and continue the process. The points scored in previous rolls are still under threat of a zilch. For example, a player begins their turn by rolling 1, 1, 6, 3, 3, 3. That scores as 100+100+50+300=550. The player picks up all six dice and throws again and they come up 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 which is 1000+200=1200 which brings his score this turn to 1750 (i.e., 550+1200). The player rolls a third time (all six dice) and the dice come up 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5. That scores as 100, giving a total of 1850. The player picks up the five non-scoring dice and rolls 2, 2, 3, 3, 4: a zilch. They lose their 1850 earnings.
• A player may choose to quit rolling anytime during their turn by announcing their decision. When they announce that they will keep their score, their turn ends. That turn's score is recorded on the score sheet and is now safe. The resulting total cannot be affected by any zilches in subsequent turns. There are two instances when it is unwise to stop rolling (regardless of unfavorable odds): "Getting on the Board" or the "last roll" to win the game (see below for details).

Getting on the Board

There is an INITIAL requirement to begin accumulating scores. A player's FIRST score must always be 500 or more points. Any rolls resulting in less than 500 points do NOT get recorded: the player has no score whatsoever. AFTER a player meets this prerequisite, however, there is NO MINIMUM for subsequent turns. Consequently, until they've rolled (and kept) 500 or more points in one turn, there's nothing to be lost by zilching when the score (for the turn) is less than 500.
For example, Fred begins the game by rolling 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5 (100 points). He rolls the remaining non-scoring (five) dice and gets 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 (300 points). He sets three more dice aside and rolls the remaining non-scoring (two) dice. He gets 6, 5 (50 points). His total is 450 so it doesn't make the minimum. He's down to just one die (the five), which makes the odds pretty slim (it'll have to come up as a one or a six). But it doesn't matter, since the 450 will be thrown away since he hasn't "broken 500." He rolls the last die and it comes up 4: ZILCH! His turn is over, he has nothing. Next turn he rolls 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4 (300 points). He rolls the remaining two dice and zilches. He's still has no score. His third turn he rolls 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 (zilch). On his fourth turn he rolls 2, 2, 3, 6, 6, 6 (600 points). He decides to stop rolling and keep this score. He can do this because it as least 500 points. He "enters" the game with 600 points. His fifth turn he rolls 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 6 (250 points). Even though it is less than 500 points, he can stop and keep this score. He's already on the board and doesn't have any minimum requirements for the rest of this game. He doesn't like the odds of scoring with only two dice so he declares he's keeping the 250. His turn ends and the 250 is added to the previous 600, giving a total of 850. Next turn he rolls 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5 (1500 points). He picks up all six dice and rolls again: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (a permanent straight!). So far he has rolled 3000 points. He picks up all six dice and rolls again: 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5: Zilch! He loses all but the straight, so his total is 2350 (instead of 3850). Next turn he rolls 1, 1, 1, 6, 6, 5 (1100 points). He rolls the remaining die and rolls 4: Zilch. He loses all the points scored in that turn, and his total remains at 2350. He should have stopped and kept the 1100 points instead of trying for more points under such poor odds. But if he'd rolled a point, then he'd been able to roll all six dice again. Not too stupid, especially if he has enough of a lead that he can afford a zilch.

Winning the Game

The game is played to 5000 points. If, at the end of a player's turn, their cumulative score is 5000 or more points, then all the other players have one last roll. The other players have one last chance to maximize their scores. After their last rolls have been made, the person with the highest score wins. Strategically, until your score exceeds the highest opponent's score, you should not worry about rolling a zilch on your last turn. Since the other players will get one last roll, you may want to purposely zilch if your total would only make or barely break 5000. You would instead want to break 5000 by a large margin if other players are close behind with nearly-5000 point scores.

E.g., It's a four-player game, and player #4 is about to start his turn. The totals at this moment are: #4 has 3700 points, #1 has 2500 points, #2 has 4900 points, and #3 has 4950 points.
• Player #4 rolls 1300 points and foolishly decides to cease rolling. Players #2 and #3 will probably beat his total of 5000 easily. Since he's the first to make/break 5000, the game is now in it's final stage. The other players all get one last turn.
• Since player #1 is so far behind, he makes some risky rolls and his bravery pays off. He's able to roll twelve consecutive times without zilching! Once his potential total reaches 5100 points he decides to end his turn before his luck runs out. Player #1 has beaten player #4 and he'll be the winner if the remaining players cannot score more than 5100 points. (Which they probably will, but you never know!)
• Player #2 has been wise in bringing his score very close to 5000 at the end of his previous turn. That gives him the opportunity to build a large margin using all six dice (i.e., better odds) at the start of his turn. He rolls 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 6 (250 points). That beats everybody who made their final rolls (i.e., players #4 and #1). But player #3 has yet to roll, and his high total of 4950 makes him a threat. Player #2 is afraid that player #3 will out-roll him, so he takes a risk and rolls the remaining two non-scoring dice, and zilches. His total remains unchanged at 4900 (last place).
• Player #3, the last player in this game, rolls and scores 300. He stops rolling and announces that he will keep his score. This ends his turn and his total is now 5250, winning the game. In retrospect, Player #2 can't be faulted for taking an unnecessary risk, since if he had kept his last-roll score of 250, he'd been beaten by player #3 anyway. His only hope was to keep rolling to maximize the gap between himself and #3.

No Dice?

Use a calculator to simulate a dice roll! Type in a large random number, multiply by 3, and then push the square-root key. The numbers to the right of the decimal place (that are between 1 and 6) are your dice.