National Museum of Play Online Collections

Kismet: The Great New Game of Yacht

game

1970

The game known most commonly as Yahtzee is a classic dice game played with 5 dice, based on hands of poker. Each player's turn consists of rolling the dice up to 3 times in hope of making 1 of 13 categories. Examples of categories are 3 of a kind, 4 of a kind, straight, full house, etc. Each player tries to fill in a score for each category, but this is not always possible. When all players have entered a score or a zero for all 13 categories, the game ends and total scores are compared. Yahtzee has been a perennial favorite among fast-paced, family friendly games. It is natural that such a popular game should inspire other variants from competitive manufacturers. Such is the case with Kismet, made by Lakeside toys of Canada. Kismet adds two other possible hands to the standard 13--a "Yarborough," or a nothing hand, and a "Kismet," meaning an extra five of a kind. The Canadian origin of this game adds instructions and scoring pads in the French language.

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