Yahtzee (download)
by Amanda Nettgen
(USA)
Quick verdict
Game:
Yahtzee
Download from:
GameHouse (FULL FREE VERSION when you open a trial Fun Ticket account!)
Rating:
4/5
Yahtzee download edition is everyone’s favorite dice game come to the computer. It has two other ways to play in addition to classic Yahtzee.
What's it about?
The first screen will take you to an enticing picture of a Yahtzee cup tossing dice.
After you click start, you’ll be prompted to make an avatar selection from a total of ten characters (sunflower, mad cow, silver moon, blue cat, cup of coffee, shamrock, butterfly, alien, word bubble, or dog). You can modify your image at any time.
Then choose which of the three game modes you’d like to play: Yahtzee, Triple Yahtzee or Power Yahtzee. Brief descriptions are listed for each.
With regular Yahtzee mode, play is the same as the physical version, but faster. You can choose to go it alone, against computers, or with up to three friends. Solitaire play is more for a high score, and with computer play you get to select the difficulty of the AI. You can speed up your artificial acquaintances’ turns if you like, although you might need to see how they moved to fully enjoy the game.
If you’ve never played Yahtzee before, rest assured, it’s simple yet addictive. On your turn the game will have you click the Yahtzee cup to roll. Consider the result, and opt to "hold" which of the five dice you like.
You then have two more turns to attempt to be successful at whatever score bracket you’re trying for. A green number meter will tell you how many rolls you have left.
When you’ve run out of dice throws (or opted to stop because you got something good sooner), carefully mark the score slot with your mouse in the category you wish to have your roll applied to.
All of the classic Yahtzee throws are in Yahtzee download edition: Three of a Kind, Full House, Chance, etc. The rules further detail what these mean in an excellent manner. Yahtzee is of course the best throw, occurring when all five dice read the same digit.
The score sheet is divided into two groups: the top being for rolls of numbers 1-6, while the bottom pays homage to combination throws. Bonuses are awarded if you score high enough in either of the two sections, but if your throw for a turn was crappy, you MUST mark "0" for something.
Play is over once all players have filled in all of their score spaces. Addition will be done automatically, and the highest score wins.
The two other modes in Yahtzee download edition are interesting variations on the basic theme.
Triple Yahtzee is traditional Yahtzee supersized. Play is basically the same but longer, as you now have three columns for each score criteria instead of just one. Column #1 is worth x1, column #2 is x2, etc. Participants can jump around with their point recordings; they don’t have write in x1 before filling in x2 or x3.
Power Yahtzee is not be confused with the board game of the same name, as the concept is quite different. It is the career mode for Yahtzee and perhaps the most exciting for individual play, as there are 14 power-ups and 16 trophies to earn as well as rank increases.
You play Power Yahtzee like normal Yahtzee, but with power-ups, which can be good for you or bad for your opponent. The starter power-ups include: Helping Hand, a hand that literally points to what you should do for three turns, and Bad Luck, which curses your rival’s next throw (doesn’t seem fair to "rig" the dice, but whatever).
Trophies can be viewed from the start page, as well as High Scores.
Other computer and video board games you might enjoy!
Battleship Fleet Command game (PC)
Blokus World Tour (PC)
Carcassonne board game (XBox 360)
Cafe Mahjongg (PC)
Clue Classic (PC and Mac)
Family Feud (PC game)
The Game of Life (PC)
The Game of Life, Yahtzee and Payday video game (GameBoy Advance)
The Game of Life: Path to Success (PC)
Hasbro Family Game Night (XBox 360 and Wii)
Hasbro Game of Life
Mahjongg XP Championship (PC)
Monopoly (PC game)
Monopoly 3 (PC)
XBox 360 Monopoly game
Risk board game (download for PC)
Risk 2 computer game (PC)
Scrabble (download for PC)
Scrabble Blast! (PC)
Scrabble Journey (PC)
Settlers of Catan (XBox 360)
Skip Bo Castaway Caper (PC)
Spongebob Atlantis Square Off
Spongebob Squarepants Monopoly (PC)
Ticket to Ride game (XBox 360)
Trivial Pursuit Silver Screen edition (PC)
Uno Undercover (PC)
Uno video game (XBox 360)
Wheel of Fortune (download for PC)
Yahtzee (download for PC)
Yahtzee Texas Holdem (PC)
Computer board games HQ
Pros and cons
Yahtzee download edition is a superb translation of the popular dice game to the PC. It has clear graphics and does all the adding for you, making it a good afternoon activity for kids to play on their own.
Even if you already own the board game Yahtzee, you can’t beat getting three versions of it with no set up and an awesome career mode.
The worst thing about Yahtzee download edition is that you can’t undo if you accidentally click the wrong score spot, which can translate into you getting a 0 somewhere instead of a 40 for your Large Straight.
On your turn, the previous roller’s dice are left strewn in their last throw, which is kind of tacky. There’s also no suspense of who’s winning in the game, as the colored score board keeps a running total (if that’s something that bothers you).
The verdict
Yahtzee addicts can’t go wrong with Yahtzee download edition: it's a crisp take on the original game. I personally already own the board games Power Yahtzee and Yahtzee Free-For-All and also Yahtzee for the DS, but would still seriously consider getting this PC edition, too.
Click here to download Yahtzee FREE and LEGAL from GameHouse! Yours to keep forever with Fun Ticket!
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