Customer Reviews

Yahtzee Deluxe Edition

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yahtzee is one of my two all-time FAVORITE games. Everyone knows the educational value for children, the fun and conversation it inspires...but there's so much more to Yahtzee. Although luck has something to do with Yahtzee, skill and cunning also play an important part. Also, Yahtzee can be as competitive as you'd LIKE it to be (ante up!). It also is a game that will inspire very warm and wonderful memories. I will always remember my two late uncles' weekly Yahtzee nights. They were very close brothers but, in adulthood, the constraints of family and responsibilities did not allow them to spend much time together alone...until they established their weekly Yahtzee night! They would play for hours on end to the sounds of the dice shaking and spilling, the mild cussing, the laughter and smiles! I carry it with me wherever I go and, inevitably, a routine visit becomes a Yahtzee PARTY! New friends, laughter and fun...how can you beat a combination like that (unless it's a five-of-a-kind YAHTZEE)!!!!!

Perhaps the most brilliant (and educational) aspect of Yahtzee is that players learn about probability without even knowing it. Yahtzee is played with five dice that players roll (up to three times, picking up any of the five for a re-roll) in an attempt to fill out different categories on their score cards. 3 and 4-of-a-kind, short and long straights, and so on. The more you play the more you gain an intuitive feel for which are easy and which are difficult to make. You learn about the disparities between the points a particular category pays and its difficulty to obtain with the dice. You learn to plan for different outcomes and to change your plans on the fly, in response to the dice rolls.

But the beauty of Yahtzee is that all of this calculating takes a back seat to the fun of rolling the dice, filling out the scorecard and finding yourself absorbed by the drama that unfolds with each game. It's a brilliant balance that, magically, never gets old. Perhaps it's the simiplicity, perhaps it's the nearly infinite variety of games - whatever, it marks Yahtzee as one of a handful of classic games.

The deluxe edition adds a touch of class to the proceedings, providing handsome gold sparkle dice, a felt lined dice cup (which makes shaking the dice just a notch more special), and a small felt-lined stadium to roll the dice into. The latter, while gratifying in its own way, is perhaps slightly less thrilling than rolling the dice into the top part of the cardboard box and hearing them clatter against the sides.

Yahtzee can be played by a wide variety of ages. It can be played competitively against others, or simply against yourself for a high-score.

I have always enjoyed playing Yahtzee and wanted to get a nice version of the game. I decided on the Deluxe version because I liked the idea of having a tray to use to roll the dice in and from the picture it looked like it would be a good quality product. Boy was I wrong! The game is of course the classic game, so I won't knock the game itself. But the tray that this comes with is very flimsy. I had expected it to be a solid plastic tray but it is not. The rest of the game is fine, but because I had paid twice as much for this deluxe version, I thought I would be getting a better quality product than I did.

I am 33 as of 3/26 and my first time playing Yahtzee has me hooked. I started playing "Yacht" in a popular CD-ROM from Sierra (you all know what I'm talking about, right?) and knew Yahtzee came from that game. Yahtzee is different with an additional scoring space - 3 of a kind, but has a depth and distinction all its own. I have both standard and the Deluxe Edition Yahtzee and love them both, although the Deluxe Edition is a little more special and appeals to the collector in me. The dice are gorgeous and you will be spoiled by the Deluxe Edition score pads as they are designed attractively. I love the dice cup and the dice tray - with dice HOLDERS!!! A prior review of this game caused me to study and scrutinize the rules from both editions. I don't understand why that reviewer said you were no longer eligible for the Yahtzee bonus chip nor the Joker rule allowing you to score additional Yahtzee scores in the lower space scores. I absolutely mean NO disrespect to that reviewer or their review; it is great and inspired me to write this one, and to hopefully help. The Deluxe Edition and standard Yahtzee rules are identical in that you can place additional Yahtzees in the lower score spaces, only if you have free spots to put them and if you have already scored a Yahtzee. You do get a bonus chip/token for each 100 pt Yahtzee shown on page 7 in standard Yahtzee and page 6 in Deluxe Yahtzee. I regret not learning this wonderful game earlier in life and am playing catch-up with this and with other new games I've learned. Don't hesitate to get this Deluxe Edition of Yahtzee, do it for the collector inside you, it's worth every penny. Now if only Milton Bradley would only make Deluxe Edition Yahtzee score pads for sale ...

If there is any board game that drives wise men and women to make the most foolish of decisions, all in the name of having a good time, it MUST be Yahtzee. The Yahtzee Deluxe Edition lets you take those same insane risks and make a complete fool of yourself in more style.

For the few uninitiated (yes, you there, living in that monastery in Tibet), the object of Yahtzee is deceptively (no, no, make that deviously) simple. When it's your turn, you roll 5 dice in a shaker cup, then take up to 2 more rolls to create combinations similar to poker hands by re-rolling any and all of the dice. You then record your score in one of 13 spaces on the pre-printed score sheet. At the end of each turn, you must either score the value of your final roll in its appropriate space or take a zero in any open space on the score sheet. Ostensibly, the goal of every turn is the highest-scoring 5-of-a-kind combination known as a "Yahtzee", unless, of course, you're sitting next to my sister-in-law, in which case it becomes a "YAHTZEEEEEEEEE! ", after which you wait several minutes for your hearing to return. Whoever has the highest score wins.

The Deluxe Edition dice are made of amber colored plastic with gold colored glitter embedded in it. You shake those dice in a leather-wrapped, felt-lined shaking cup. After agitating the dice, you throw them into a tray that keeps them from overshooting the table and is a much more elegant corral than using the game's box for that purpose. One rim of the tray has 5 depressions into which you can place your "keepers", those dice you don't intend to re-roll. The game also comes with 2 Deluxe Edition scoring pencils and 2 Deluxe Edition score pads as well as 8 oversized bonus chips. The latter are a sort of medallion one places in front of oneself upon scoring a second Yahtzee provided the first was scored in the Yahtzee space on the score pad. And therein lies the most sublimely devious feature of the game.

The upper section of the score sheet carries with it a bonus, should you succeed in rolling at least 3 Aces, 3 Deuces, 3 Treys and so on, all the way to 3 Sixes. But as the game progresses and the prospect of success moves farther and farther from one's grasp, one resorts to the unthinkable: scoring that prized first Yahtzee in the upper section, just to GET THAT BONUS!

By the rules of Yahtzee, you are no longer eligible for the Yahtzee bonus chip (with its 100 point bonus) nor the "Joker" rule (allowing you to score a second or subsequent Yahtzee in any lower section space). I have seen friends and relations driven to the brink of madness, scoring as many as 3 Yahtzees in the upper section while deliberately goose-egging the Yahtzee space, all in the name of that bonus.

So, if you feel you are up to it, pour some wine, lay out a tray of fruit and cheese and set up your Yahtzee Deluxe Edition. If one is going to be driven out of one's mind, one might as well look good doing it.

This game is loads of fun. I got it for my eighth birthday. I thought to myself "Oh, it's one of those stupid board games again," but it wasn't. I'm 10 now, and I'm still playing with Yahtzee. I like it because of how much thinking is involved, and you have to make impartant decisions, like "Hmm...should I put my score in 4 of a kind, or in my fours up top?" That skill can also help you along the way in school. But you know what, most games that are educational can be boring. But not Yahtzee! Yahtzee is also fun because of the excitement in you while hoping to get a Yahtzee, which is worth fifty points, which is the most points you can get. And you always feel happy when you roll something that you know is good! Now, I don't have the Deluxe Edidtion of Yahtzee, but I'm sure that if I liked the regular Yahtzee, the Delexe Edition would be even better. I hope you order this game soon. And for those of you out there who don't want to buy Yahtzee, because you think you are too cool or too old for it, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING!!!

I recently purchased the deluxe version of yahtzee after enjoying the regular game for many years. I was impressed with the gold dice and the dice cup. Everyone else in the house not playing really loves the padded cup. I was disappointed in the dice tray. It is very flimsy and not properly designed. It should have a rotator and be made of more durable material. Also, the score pads that came with the game do not have a place on the back to tally player totals. I felt ripped off when I discovered this obvious mistake.

I'll begin my review by saying that I love Yahtzee. I never grow tired of it and I enjoy the excitement of trying to roll a good hand. It's fun and addictive. But I have several issues with this current Deluxe version.

First of all, the physical components of the Deluxe version of this game are a big disappointment. They no longer resemble the picture on the Amazon screen. For example, the dice are a hideous shade of dark pink, not white, red or cream colored. When I first took them out of the box and looked at them, the first thought I had was something along the lines of, "What in the world...." I continued to examine them and couldn't really believe what I was seeing. The dice were flat-out ugly. The indentations on the dice were a weird shade of red, which makes them difficult to "read" on a dark-pink background. The second disappointment was the rolling tray. It doesn't look like the picture on the screen. It's a very thin, very flexible gauge of plastic, somewhat paperlike, completely covered in a cheap black felt. It's so light and flimsy, that when you roll the dice in it, the entire rolling tray sometimes moves across the table. The two black scoring pencils would have been a nice touch had they both been embossed with the word "Yahtzee" on them like we see in some of the photos. But these were just plain black pencils. The dice cup has a padded felt liner formed inside of it, but the liner seems to be coming detached at two points near the lip of the cup because the glue is breaking down. Probably the best aspects of this game are the directions, which are clear and well-written, and the enclosed scoring pads.

The Deluxe version just seems to be very poorly made with cheap components. I did NOT have high expectations for this game, and I didn't expect it to be of the quality of Yahtzee games of 25 years ago. But I am still disappointed. At $16.99, it just isn't worth it. Next time I'll go with the regular version at $7.99 and use the top of a shoebox as a rolling tray. It worked great when we were kids and it works great now.

This is a great game that my family uses often during game night.
The velvet game board make the dice "silent" as they hit the board and keeps them from flying off the table.
It's a must have in any famiy's game collection.

Hello: I have enjoyed playing this game over the years; but as a person with low vision it is quite a challenge. Here's what you can do to make this game more enjoyable for those with vision impairments:

1. Buy or make dice with large print or braille. (Sometimes older games have larger printed dice.) Can purchase dice from a catalog for products for people with vision products or call your local vision service agency to find out where to purchase. 2. Scan a blank score card into your computer and Print it out in large print or braille. 3. Place a table cloth on your playing table which is a contrasting color to the playing dice to make them easier to find.

Hope you all enjoy playing this game. It is fun when "the tools fit your needs."