Review: Farkle Dice by SmartBox Design
Farkle Dice, and Farkle (Definition) in general, is a game I had never heard of until SmartBox added it to the Launch Giveaway; I’m glad they did. I will generally divide games into two categories: 2-3 minute games that are great for taking a single short break, and ongoing games that you can play over the course of many breaks or even days. After trying it out, Farkle Dice has become my favorite 2-3 minute game on my Tilt. Farkle Dice supports Windows Mobile 2003 and higher Pocket PC devices (there is also a Palm version available) with all supported screen resolutions (though I cannot vouch for VGA.) I don’t think it was designed to be played without a stylus but can be played with just a finger, although some things are difficult. You can find a trial here, and the full version is $14.99. This relatively simple game has quite a bit to offer: comparatively great graphics, excellent game play, some elements of strategy and luck, and many unique opponents to play against.
Basic Game Information
Although I was late to the Farkle game I do remember playing similar games called Pass the Pigs, and Skunk when I was younger. They are both very close in game play, with many of the same gaming elements. The basic idea of all these games is that you win points by rolling dice (or pigs) and the more difficult the combination of your rolls the more points you score. After each roll you can decide to bank your points or risk them and roll again.
In Farkle Dice you start with six dice and roll them all at once. Points are scored for each of the following: rolling a one or a five, three of a kind, three pairs, and a six dice straight. Rolling a 1 scores 100 points; a 5 scores 50 points; three of a kind scores the die x 100 except for three 1’s which is 1000; three pair scores 500, and a six dice straight nets you 1000 points.
If you have no scoring dice in your current roll it is considered a FARKLE and ends your turn resulting in losing any points you have banked. In the picture to the right I was pushing my luck a bit too far and did not get any scoring dice so I FARKLED and now my turn is over with no points achieved. If you haven’t played the game before expect this quite a bit at first until you find your own strategy, and get a feel for the game play.
After your roll, if you have scoring dice, you can decide to bank any combination of your scoring dice (you must bank some points and dice). You can see the current amount of points you have in the bank (100 for rolling a 1, and 50 for rolling a 5; the yellow line indicates the 5 was rolled during my last roll and the 1 came this roll) between the two buttons. After each scoring roll you can decide to take the points you have already banked and add them to your score (Pass) or continue your turn and roll again (Roll).
Now comes the strategy/luck aspect of it, and how Farkle is different from the other games mentioned above. When you decide to bank your points and dice, you take them out of play. If you continue on you can only roll the dice you haven’t banked. In the above image I would only roll the four dice in the top row if I decided to continue.
This decreases the odds of having another scoring roll, and increases the chances of a FARKLE. With six dice the odds are strongly with you to avoid a FARKLE, with two dice they are almost even, and with one they are strongly against you. So you must begin to consider the risk involved in continuing your turn versus the benefit of taking your banked points. When you decide to end your turn choose Pass and your banked points will be added to your score.
Another twist is that if you FARKLE 3 turns in a row you lose not only your banked points and your turn, but you also lose 1000 points off of your score. You can see in the picture the two red F’s that indicate FARKLE’s in the previous turns. If I were to FARKLE again this turn I would lose the 450 I have banked as well as 1000 off of my scoreboard score leaving me with -300 points. Guess I better take the 100 (the 1 in the current roll) + 450 (in the bank) and be happy with a total score of 1250.
As if that weren’t enough to think about, you also must consider your place in the game as there are computer opponents playing against you. The final objective of the game is to have the highest score above 10,000 (this is configurable) when game play is finished. The way Farkle Dice decides to finish play is when one player reaches 10,000 points (or whatever you have configured) each other player get a last turn to try to beat that score.
Don’t worry if this is all too much to take in right away. SmartBox has included a pretty complete help section available inside the game to help you get the hang of it. The help files also provide a strategy section although it is pretty basic; not to worry later on I will give you some of my tips for Farkle mastery.
Next Page: Games settings and some strategy tips
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i lost my picture, chips points and score i was on chat, but she was not there so i sent a message, while it was loading i went back to home page and all of a sudden i went private picture on farkle and my name is gone for the chip and points part can you help me? thanks
I had the same problem. I had logged out and when I came back to the game my scores and picture were gone. Help!!