Farkle: A Great Game for Senior Citizens

My grandparents love to play games, and I enjoy playing games with them. I am going to share an uncommon game that happens to be my favorite games to play with my grandparents. This game for senior citizens is appropriate for all ages and almost all types of physical ailments should not interfere with the seniors' ability to play these games.

The game for senior citizens that I recommend is Farkle. This game needs at least two people but there is no maximum limit. You will need 6 dice, a pad of paper, and a pen or pencil. The goal is to get 10,000 points. Points are earned by rolling a 1, 5, 3 or more of a kind, or a straight, and each time you roll you must roll one of those things. If you don't roll one of those then you "farkle" and it is the next person's turn. A 1 is worth 100 points, a 5 is worth 50 points, 3 of a kind is worth the number on the dice times 100, a 4 of a kind doubles that number, a 5 of a kind doubles that, if all 6 are the same it is double that number, and a straight is worth 1,000 points. For example, if you roll 3 twos you get 200 points. If you roll 4 twos you get 400 points.

If you roll 5 twos you get 800 points and 6 twos would be worth 1,600 points. When you roll the dice, if you get a 1, 5, or three or more of a kind you keep them and roll again of you choose. If you don't want to roll again you can put that total down on the paper. If you keep rolling and you farkle then your turn is over and you don't put any points down. To "get down", or put an amount on the paper to work your way up to 10,000 points, you must get 750 points in one turn. To clear things up a bit I will give you an example scenario. Let's say you roll two 1s, a 5, two 2s, and a 6.

You can keep the 1s and the 5, but you only have to keep one of those. Pretend you keep a 1 and roll again. This time you roll four 3s and a 5. This would mean that you have 750 points (100 from the first roll, 600 for the 3s, and 50 from the 5). You can take your 750 points or you can keep rolling. If you decide to keep rolling you may stop whenever you like, however if you farkle all 750 points are gone. You take turns rolling until someone reaches 10,000. Once a person reaches 10,000 points everyone gets one last chance to roll. The best strategy for your last turn is to keep rolling until you either reach 10,000 or farkle.

I hope you and the senior citizens that you share this with enjoy this game.