Once a category has been used in the game, it cannot be used again. After each round, the player chooses which scoring category is to be used for that round. The dice can be rolled up to three times in a turn to try to make various scoring combinations and dice must remain in the box. The objective of the game is to score points by rolling five dice to make certain combinations. It is also similar to Yatzy, which is popular in Scandinavia.

The game is a development of earlier dice games such as Poker Dice, Yacht and Generala. It was first marketed under the name of Yahtzee by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley (a company that has since been acquired and assimilated by Hasbro).