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Yams Royale
Some say it started when a major poker tournament lost all their cards. Others say it's the only way to play Hold 'em by yourself.
Whichever story is true (neither, probably), the result is a satisfying light strategy game that's perfect for a quick break.
Roll your dice, hold the ones you want and let the Gods of chance take the others. How close to a perfect run can you get?
Controls
Computer
- Click Roll to roll any dice that aren't being held
- Click a die to hold it, or click it again to release it
- At any point after the first roll, click an available score on the scorecard to end the turn and record it
Mobile
- Tap Roll to roll any dice that aren't being held
- Tap a die to hold it, or tap it again to release it
- At any point after the first roll, tap an available score on the scorecard to end the turn and record it
Game overview
Yams Royale is a five-dice scoring game about making the best of whatever the roll gives you. Each turn gives you up to three rolls. Keep the dice you want, reroll the rest, then commit the final result to one empty category on your scorecard, even if that means scoring a big fat zero.
The left section rewards matching numbers from ones through sixes. Reach 63 points there and you earn a 35 point bonus. The right section is where the bigger combinations live: 3 of a kind, 4 of a kind, Full house, Small straight, Large straight, Yams, and Chance - the poor man's "maybe the next turn will be better."
Every category can only be used once, so the interesting part isn't just rolling well - it's deciding where each result is worth spending. A weak roll can still rescue a game, while a strong roll gives you a conundrum of where to save it.
Fill all 13 categories to finish the game. Choose well and hope Lady Luck is on your side.
How to play
Each turn of Yams Royale starts with five dice that you can roll up to three times in total. If you haven't already chosen a score, at the end of the turn, you have to select an unused row on your scorecard to save the result, even if it means scoring nothing. Fill every category to complete the game.
- Roll five dice, then hold any dice you want to keep.
- Reroll the remaining dice up to two more times.
- After each turn, score your final dice in one available row on the scorecard.
- Complete every category and aim for the highest total score.
Why players like it
Yams Royale has that dangerous kind of simplicity where you understand the rules almost immediately and then spend the rest of the game second-guessing yourself. Keep the pair? Chase the straight? Save the 4 of a kind or go for the bonus on the left? Surely one more roll will fix everything.
Every turn gives you a little decision tree. Sometimes the dice hand you exactly what you wanted. More often, they hand you something nearly useful and make you decide whether to pivot or keep chasing.
The scorecard is a reflection of what you feel is important. And when you've no good choices? What do you sacrifice?
It's relaxed enough to play casually, but there is plenty of room to squeeze extra points out of smart holds, flexible scoring, and knowing when a mediocre result is actually good enough.
Tips and strategy
A great roll helps, but good hands are usually built by protecting your options and knowing which boxes can afford to take a hit.
- Keep the 63 point left-section bonus in mind. You need three of each number to reach it, so an extra four, five, or six can make up for a poor result in the smaller numbers.
- Don't spend Chance too early unless the total is genuinely strong. It's one of your safest places to put an awkward high-value roll later in the game.
- When aiming for a straight, having an open-ended hold of 2-3-4 - where 1 or 5 will give you what you want - is better than needing to fill a hole with something like 2-3-5 - where it's 4 or nothing.
- With 3 of a kind and 4 of a kind, the score is based on the sum of the dice, so if you've a low-value one, it might be better saving it on the left section if you still have the space open.
- When a turn goes badly, it can sometimes be better to sacrifice one high scoring, yet low chance category like Yams, than sacrificing a useful category, like Chance.
FAQ
How many times can I roll each turn?
Up to three times. The first roll uses all five dice. After that, hold any dice you want to keep and reroll the rest. You can also stop early and score whenever you're happy with the result.
How does the left-section bonus work?
Your scores for Ones, Twos, Threes, Fours, Fives, and Sixes are added together. Reach 63 points or more across those six categories and you earn an extra 35 points.
How are the combinations scored?
3 of a kind and 4 of a kind score the total of all five dice. Full house scores 25, Small straight scores 30, Large straight scores 40, Yams - five matching dice - scores 50, and Chance simply scores the total of all five dice.
What happens if my roll doesn't fit a category?
You still have to use one empty category at the end of the turn. If the dice don't qualify for that category, it scores 0. Choosing which box to sacrifice is part of the strategy.
When does the game end?
The game ends once all 13 score categories have been filled. Your left section, bonus, and right section are then combined into your final score.
It can also end if you run out of time. You have 8 minutes to complete the game, which is just enough to put a little time pressure on your decisions.
What is the highest possible score?
The theoretical maximum is 375 points, though this assumes you score every category perfectly, including 5 dice of the same value in every category that doesn't require a specific combination. In reality, ~220 would be considered decent, ~250 would be considered good, ~275 would be considered great, and ~300 would be considered exceptional. If you get over ~325, you're in the top 1% of all runs ever recorded.
