Farkle

[MacSuibhne]

Can some on give me some tips about how to play and win at Farkle? I am not even sure I understand the rules although I have read the instructions.

[Lieste]

It's quite simple. Roll the set of dice, hold any single 1 or 5, three or more of a single value, or a straight.
After each roll which can be scored, you can reroll any remaining dice, and can start over if you remove all the dice without failing to score.

Because the odds of scoring reduce with the number of dice removed, it is sometimes better to take a single 1 or 5 than to take two (or three/four if they are mixed). Three 2s score worse than three single 1s, so I tend to only take it if I have no choice or if it clears the board along with whatever else is left and also scores.

I haven't redone the scoring since the straights were added, but the old 'balance' value was 350 points (without loaded dice) - and if this was met with fewer than 2 dice left it was sometimes prudent to hold the game and score out. The current scoring is a little higher, but against most npcs this will still be a winning value over multiple games, even though you might lose occasionally if they score well.

You have a lot more scoring options with 3 dice in play than 2 or 1, so it is worth considering whether to take what is on the board and score out, or to take only part of it to leave 3 dice in play for a higher scoring roll chance.

Loaded dice change the odds considerably, but you should look for sets which work together to a common purpose, rather than having odds changed at cross purposes.

[Abu]

Level up your drinking skill to roll better numbers. Playing drunk also helps with a lower drinking skill.

[MacSuibhne]

Originally posted by Abu:

Level up your drinking skill to roll better numbers.

Really? Being drunk increases your chance of winning?

[DargonBlak]

the higher your bet, the harder it is to win - so don't push the "bet" amount higher.

there are skills that you can acquire late in game to be better - from agility i think

Best option is to get Lucky Dice too

The rules can be found on-line (it's a real game), and it takes a while to get the hang of it (when to push it and when not)

I've seen my opponent win in one hand on a few occasions, and i don't really get good until i nab the agility skill that improves dice throwing even if i have a Lucky die or two.

[Abu]

Originally posted by MacSuibhne:

Originally posted by Abu:

Level up your drinking skill to roll better numbers.

Really? Being drunk increases your chance of winning?

Yeah, although I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it. Of course, as you level up drinking, you'll no longer need to be drunk to have a decent chance at winning (plus there's that perk).

[Flaccid Snake]

Get some loaded die from the treasure maps, or pick the pockets of the other players for some die

[Lieste]

All of the 'aids' will help - even trivialise Farkle. However it is quite possible to win most of the time with sensible choices, even with no loaded dice, and no 'cheating perks', even against opponents who are using loaded dice themselves.

There is a chance when not loading the game that you will lose a proportion of games (I reckon on around 1 in 25 overall, with one in 5 at the worst against the 'heavily' loaded opponents in e.g. the Amorous Adventures.) But you can win an overwhelming proportion even with no advantages.

[AJD]

How come the person you are playing against seems to have unlimited chances to re-roll dice but Henry can only roll once and if he doesnt score immediately Pass is the only illuminated option? How do you re-roll dice like the NPC? I have read the rules several times and played a dozen games but I have never been able to get more than a score of a few hundred while the other guy rolls and rolls and rolls until he wins, very quickly.

[Bandy]

Farkle needs to 'click' with you, to see what needs to happen to win (a certain strategy), but understand it may not be for everyone. I played a lot of card games with family\friends before computers came along (I remember pong...) so that may be against younger people understanding and enjoying this mini game.

And this is a very old thread BTW...

[Henry Crabgrass]

Originally posted by AJD:

How come the person you are playing against seems to have unlimited chances to re-roll dice but Henry can only roll once and if he doesnt score immediately Pass is the only illuminated option? How do you re-roll dice like the NPC? I have read the rules several times and played a dozen games but I have never been able to get more than a score of a few hundred while the other guy rolls and rolls and rolls until he wins, very quickly.

You HAVE to choose a die to 'stick' that's either a 1, a 5, or some other variation of a winning 'hand'. If you don't, you need to choose to pass your go, or you're bust (no variation of a point scoring 'hand' at all), so you forfeit you turn automatically.

If you roll and end up with nothing special but you have a 1, 3, 4, 4, 6, 5 for instance, choose the 1 (because it is worth more than a 5) and roll again while you have more dice; your chances of getting three of a kind or better are higher. The less dice you have, the higher the chance of being bust and losing any accumulated round points.

It's a bit like poker meets pontoon, or black jack I guess.

[Bandy]

Originally posted by Speckled Jim:

You HAVE to choose a die to 'stick' that's either a 1, a 5, or some other variation of a winning 'hand'. If you don't, you need to choose to pass your go, or you're bust (no variation of a point scoring 'hand' at all), so you forfeit you turn automatically.

If you roll and end up with nothing special but you have a 1, 3, 4, 4, 6, 5 for instance, choose the 1 (because it is worth more than a 5) and roll again while you have more dice; your chances of getting three of a kind or better are higher. The less dice you have, the higher the chance of being bust and losing any accumulated round points.

It's a bit like poker meets pontoon, or black jack I guess.

This is good advice, you have to think of the dice in terms of maximizing probability on the next roll, unless you already had a damn good roll. People just don't understand these types of games, that there IS actually strategy behind the game.