Yamb

Yamb is a public domain dice game very similar to Yahtzee. The catch is there are different kinds of columns with different meanings. So, for example, there is an up column meaning it must be completed from the top to the bottom if completion points are to be made.

So, grab some six-sided dice and roll them bones after reading my interpretation and explanation of the rules.

Number of Players

The game may be played with two or more players.

Set Up

• 5 six-sided dice
• Something to write on.

On this writing thing, make a table consisting of an upper section and a lower section.

The upper section is laid out with the following rows:

• Ones, which are the sum of all dice showing 1 pip.
• Twos, which are the sum of all dice showing 2 pips.
• Threes, which are the sum of all dice showing 3 pips.
• Fours, which are the sum of all dice showing 4 pips.
• Fives, which are the sum of all dice showing 5 pips.
• Sixes, which are the sum of all dice showing 6 pips.

The lower section is laid out with the following rows:

• Min, which is the sum of all dice rolled and is considered a minimum score.
• Max, which is the sum of all dice rolled and is considered a maximum score.
• Minimax, which is the value of Max - Min multiplied by the Ones value.
• Two pairs, which are the sum of two pairs of dice rolled + 10
• Straight, which is a straight sequential value. You have three tries to achieve it. The scoring on this is 66 points for the first attemp, 56 points for second attempt, 46 points for third attemp, and 0 points thereafter.
• Full house, which is three of one number and two of a different number, and has a score of the sum of all dice + 30.
• Carriage, which is four of the same pip, and has a score of the sum of all dice + 40.
• Yamb, which has all five dice of the same pip, and has a score of the sum of all dice + 50.

Next, there are four basic columns:

• Up, which must be filled starting with the ones and on down to Yamb.
• Down, which must be filled starting with Yamb and on up to Ones.
• Free, which can be filled in any order.
• Announce, which means players announce what they think their result will be.

There are four extra columns possible, too:

• Up-Down, which fills up from the bottom and top at the same time.
• Middle, which starts in the minimax section and fills in both directions at the same time.
• Hand, which each entry in the column can only be made after the first roll and no rerolls.
• Maximum, which can only be entered when the point value is close to the maximum value of that roll.

Play order is determined by rolling the five dice. The highest roller goes first and the lowest roller goes last.

Game Play

Each round starts with the first player. The player takes a turn by rolling all five dice, keeping whichever ones they want to keep. They then roll the unkept dice. Again, dice are potentially kept. They then roll again and keep whatever combined results were rolled of all the dice. If they do not get that value for the given column-row intersection, they must mark a 0. Otherwise, they mark the score for that intersection.

End of Game

Once all players fill out their columns, the game ends.

Each player totals their upper section. If a player gets a total of at least 63 points, they receive an additional 30 points. The players then total their lower section. This is their score.

The player with the highest score wins. In case of ties, roll dice to determine the winner.