Kismet

Join us as we play Kismet, an early competitor to Yahtzee. It's more interesting with multi-colored dice, new combinations and the strategy of poker. A fun and easy game to play as you enjoy the company and conversation of others. A Purpose Circus default!

Kismet is a game from 1964 that has five dice with the 1 and 6 faces being black, 2 and 5 red, and 3 and 4 green. Like with Yahtzee, players roll in turn getting three opportunities to satisy different objectives tracked on a score sheet. After each roll, the player can opt to keep or re-roll any of the dice. A value must be scored after the third roll with a 0 marked in the player's objective of choice if nothing fits.

The double-sided score sheets have six columns on each side good for twelve games. Spare sheets can be purchased online or run through a copier if you exhaust your supply.

The score sheet has a top or basic section with 6 objectives. Like Yahtzee, you score the number of dice of a given type multiplied by the number of pips for that type. For example, if two 5's are rolled 10 would be scored for fives. Bonus points may be earned on the top section if certain point thresholds are passed.

The bottom or Kismet section has 9 objectives and is where the game really differentiates itself from Yahtzee. With the three dice colors there are objectives like Two Pair Same Color, Flush and Full House Same Color that are dependent upon not only he pip-count but also the color. When a player rolls five of a kind they can score a Kismet. Unlike Yahtzee, additional Kismets must be scored to satisfy another open objective. However, each Kismet beyond the first forces the other players to score a 0 in their top-most open objective and lose a turn.

Kismet is the Turkish word for fate. Was it fate that the game has almost been lost to obscurity under the shadow of Hasbro-owned Yahtzee? Perhaps so, but don't let it be yours to miss out on the opportunity to have this game on your shelf or in your travel bag. Thanks for joining us, and drop a comment on our YouTube channel if you remember Kismet or still play it today! See you next time.