How to Play Tally
Tally is a free Yahtzee-style dice game on an emerald felt table. Each turn you get up to three rolls of five jewel-toned dice. Between rolls, tap any die to lock it (a gold ring appears). After rolling at least once, tap a scoring category in the right-side scorecard to record your points. All 13 categories must be filled across 13 turns — even if some score zero.
Scoring Tips
- Chase the upper bonus. Score at least 63 points across Ones–Sixes to earn the free +35 Upper Bonus.
- Trust the Probability Coach. The "est" value next to each row is the average score you'd land if you keep the best dice and reroll the rest. Higher est on a low-cap category (like Threes) sometimes beats a tempting current score on a high-cap one.
- Use Chance wisely. Chance always scores the sum of all dice — save it for turns where no other category fits.
- Joker rule. A second Yahtzee scores +100 Joker bonus AND can fill any lower-section category using the Yahtzee value.
- Watch Combo Flash. The Bronze/Silver/Gold/Platinum rating after each fill shows how efficiently you scored — aim for Gold or Platinum on every roll.
What Makes Tally Different
Dice games on app stores tend to bury the classic 13-category scorecard under energy meters, ad breaks, and cosmetic currencies. Tally strips all of that away and then adds the one thing the paper game never had: a Probability Coach. The "est" value beside every open category shows the expected score if you keep your best dice and reroll the rest, turning each keep-or-reroll decision into something you can actually reason about — and learn from — instead of pure gut feel.
Combo Flash closes the feedback loop: after every fill, a Bronze-to-Platinum rating tells you how close you came to the maximum available for that category and roll count. Between the coach, the ratings, and the gold Joker-Glow celebration on repeat five-of-a-kinds, Tally plays like a scoring tutor wrapped in an emerald-felt table — free, in the browser, with no account and nothing to install.
A Brief History of Dice-Combination Games
Five-dice combination scoring descends from old family games like Yacht, and the mid-twentieth-century commercial version made the 13-category scorecard — upper-section counts, three- and four-of-a-kinds, straights, full house, chance — the standard everyone now recognizes. The format survives because every turn is a compact bet: three rolls, freely chosen keeps, and one irreversible scorecard decision. Tally keeps that structure intact and adds a seeded daily challenge so every player worldwide faces the same dice on the same day.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I lock dice in Tally?
Tap (or click) any die after your first roll to lock it — a gold ring appears around the locked die. Locked dice won't re-roll when you press Roll. Tap again to unlock before your next roll.
What is the Joker-Glow rule?
When you roll a Yahtzee (all 5 dice the same face), the dice cup glows gold and the dice pulse in sequence with an ascending chime. If you've already filled the Yahtzee row in a previous turn, each extra Yahtzee earns +100 Joker bonus points and can score as any eligible lower-section category at face value.
What does Combo Flash show?
After filling any category, a brief rating — Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum — flashes to show how close your score was to the theoretical maximum for that category and roll count. Platinum means you scored the maximum possible; Bronze means there was a lot of room for improvement. It's a coaching tool, not a penalty.
How does Daily Tally Challenge work?
In Daily mode all players receive the same seeded dice sequence for that calendar day, derived from the current UTC date. This makes scores directly comparable — no player has an advantage from a lucky dice draw. Your final score is submitted to the daily leaderboard automatically at the end of the game.
What is the Probability Coach in Tally?
The Probability Coach runs a 600-trial Monte Carlo simulation after every roll. It shows two numbers per category: "now" (your score if you fill that row right now with your current dice) and "est" (your expected average score if you keep the best dice and reroll the rest for your remaining rolls). The category with the highest expected score gets a gold ★ next to its name. You can disable the coach with the checkbox below the scorecard if you'd rather decide by gut.
