Solitaire

Help on Zilch!

You can play zilch by yourself or against up to three other players, each of which can be human or played by the computer.  You can change the players by choosing the Options item in the Game menu.  After reading the rules, one way to get to know the game is to select two players, then select the "Computer" box to the right of both players.  You will then play in "Demo" mode.  Each time you click on the "Roll" button the computer will play a turn.  By watching what the computer does, you may pick up some ideas of strategy.

Options

Rules

Scoring


Zilch Options

Options

To allow a player to play, click on the box to the left of the player's name so that the box is checked.  To remove a player from the game, click on the box to the left of the player's name so that the box is not checked.

If you want the computer to roll for a player, click on the box to the right of the player's name so that the box is checked.

To keep the players' statistics accurate, it's desirable to keep the players' names the same and add or remove them from the game, rather than change the names.

For example, suppose John as player 1 normally plays against the computer as player 2.  If Sally wants to play against John instead, it's better to add Sally as player 3 and remove the computer from the game by unchecking the box to its left.  Otherwise, if player 2's name was changed to Sally, the computer's statistics would be mixed with Sally's.


Rules of Zilch

Rules

The object of Zilch, like many games, is to score as many points as you can.  The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins.  You build up your score in turns.  At the beginning of the turn you roll all six dice.  It's very likely that one or more of the dice you roll will be worth some points.  1's, for example are individually worth 100, 5's are worth 50, and certain combinations of dice are worth more (see "Scoring").

Taking dice

By clicking on a die that is worth something, you take the die (or dice) out, and the corresponding points will be added to the "Current Score".  You can then roll the remaining dice again.  Each time you roll, you must take at least one die out to roll again.  Your "Current Score" will accumulate until you either save the score or zilch.

Zilching

If you roll the dice and none of them counts for any points, you have zilched - that's bad.  This means that you lose your "Current Score" and the turn goes to the next player.  This is the trick to Zilch.  You must know when it's a good time to save your score.  The interesting part is that if you manage to take all six dice, you can roll them all again.  If you could score points on every roll, you could roll the dice indefinitely, scoring lots and lots of points.

Saving

Saving the current score adds the score to your total and your score meter grows - that's good.  Once you've saved the score it's yours for the rest of the game.

Winning

Whoever has the highest total score after reaching the "Winning Score" is the winner.  Once a player reaches the winning score, each other player has one last chance to win, and each of them should keep rolling until they either zilch or go into the lead.  The winner not only enjoys the sense of great accomplishment and the admiration of his friends and family, he also gets to roll first in the next game.


Scoring in Zilch

Scoring

1's individually are worth 100 each.

5's individually are worth 50 each.

A straight (all dice 1-6 in any order, no repeats) rolled all at once is worth 1500.

Three pairs rolled all at once are worth 500.

Three of a kind rolled all at once are worth 100x the value of each die.  For example, three 4's are worth 400, three 5's are worth 500.  The exception is that three 1's are worth 1000.

Four of a kind rolled all at once are worth twice the value of three of a kind.  Four 4's are worth 800, four 5's are worth 1000.  Four 1's are worth 2000.

Five of a kind are worth twice the value of four of a kind.

Six of a kind is ridiculous, but they are worth twice the value of five of a kind.