Fritz

Fritz is a two-player dice game, played with 5 dice, inspired by Yatzy (or Yahtzee) mixed up with the idea behind the darts game Cricket.

The main reason why Fritz is objectively better than Yatzy is that your decisions actually affect your opponent.

Fritz is also quite dynamic. There are naturally occuring phases that you have to adapt to. You'll want to establish a good foundation in the first phase, but soon you'll find yourself either on the defense or the offense. Should you go for points or for opening more targets? Or should you focus on closing targets because your opponent is making too many points?
And then, all of a sudden you're in the final phase in a panicked race to finish line.

Enjoy the game!

- Jonas

Fritz Rules

The Scoresheet

This is the Fritz score sheet. Notice how each player has 3 boxes for each row of targets.

The premise

You score points by being the first to open a target (by marking all 3 of your target boxes on that target) and then hit that target until your opponent closes it.

The Goal

The goal is to be the first player to have marked all their target boxes AND have the most points at the same time.

☝️ Note that this means that if the player who's behind is the first to mark all their target boxes, the game continues until A) they score enough points to get ahead and thus win or B) their opponent (who have more points) manages to mark all their target boxes which will make them the winner.

The Targets

There are 8 normal targets:

4 (any number of 4s)
5 (any number of 5s)
6 (any number of 6s)
Pair (any 2 of a kind)
Trio (any 3 of a kind)
Quads (any 4 of a kind)
Rainbow (1-5 or 2-6)
House (2 of a kind + 3 of a different kind)

To be able to score points on one of these targets you first need to open it. You open a target by marking all 3 of your target boxes for that target. When you've opened a target you can score points on it until your opponent closes it by also marking all 3 of their target boxes.

This means that for any given target only one player (the one who opened it) will ever be able to score on it. The other player can only close it.

There's also a 9th target:

The Unicorn (any 5 of a kind)

But it's special. We'll get back to that.

How to Play

Whoever lost the last game starts. The other keeps score.

If the two of you have never played together before, whoever is closest to the scorepad when you read this keeps score. The other starts.

A turn goes like this:

Roll 5 dice and save any keepers you want
Do this 3 times. You're free to stop after 1 or 2 rolls as well.
If you have any extra rolls left, you can decide to use one or more of them.
Decide how you want to use your final combination of dice. You are allowed to perform multiple actions, as long as each die is only used for one action each.
- Mark (with a cross) one or more target boxes on one or more targets you've hit
- Collect points for any open targets you've hit
It's possible to both open and collect points on the same target in the same round.

Special rules for the 4, 5, and 6 targets

For these targets the target boxes are marked with 1, 2, and 3 dots, indicating how many dice are required to mark the box. You are free to mark the boxes in any order.

Example: If you roll 3×4's and you want to use them on the 4 target, you can mark the 3-dotted box or mark both the 1-dotted and the 2-dotted boxes.

Scoring Points

When you've managed to mark all three of your target boxes on a given target before your opponent, you've opened the target and can now score points on it.

When you roll a combination that allows you to collect points on a target you've opened, and you decide to do so, you'll collect points equal to the total pips in that combination.

Example: You've opened the 5 target and roll 2×5's, you can collect 10 points.

Example: You've opened Trio and roll 3×2's, you can collect 6 points.

Example: You've opened House and roll 3×4's + 2×6's, you can collect 24 points.

Example: You've opened both the 4 target and Pair and roll 1×4's, 2×3's (a Pair), and 2×5's (another Pair), you can collect 20 points.

Special Rules for The Unicorn

The Unicorn doesn’t need to be opened – it’s available right from the start. You can score points on The Unicorn as many times as you can roll 5 of a kind.

The Unicorn gives you 50 points + the total pips. Like so:

1's: 55 points
2's: 60 points
3's: 65 points
4's: 70 points
5's: 75 points
6's: 80 points

Extra Rolls

Each player has 3 extra rolls they can use through the game. You may use multiple extra rolls in the same turn.

Remember to mark extra rolls when they are used.

If your turn can't be used

If you end your turn with no usable combination, i.e. you can't mark a target boxes or collect any points, you'll get the penalty of having to set half a mark in any of your opponent's empty target boxes. If there are already a half-mark you have to finish that one.

In case your opponent has marked all their target boxes, leaving you with no place to put a half-mark, your opponent instead receives points for the total pips.

☝️ Note that this is how a player who's behind, but who has marked all their target boxes, can very quickly gain points!

Download Scoresheets

To play Fritz, you'll need a scoresheet. And you're in luck! You can download a print-it-yourself-sheet right here:

Contact

Do you have questions, comments or feedback? Send me an email