From the publisher’s rulebook

Who goes first in Yahtzee?

To decide who goes first, each player in turn rolls all 5 dice. The player with the highest total goes first. Play then passes to the left.

Source & edition

Instructions — 1 or More Players — YahtzeeMilton Bradley Company / Hasbro · Page 1, "How to Play" · Checked 2026-09-27
PDF page 1

Image: © Milton Bradley / Hasbro and the listing photographer · 1996 Milton Bradley Yahtzee copy photographed in a resale listing · Editorial fair use (Reduced, edition-specific game packaging used to identify the cited edition in an independent first-player-rule reference; it does not substitute for the game or artwork.)

Rule details

This is the roll-off used only to decide who goes first; it is separate from each player's own turn, where they roll up to 3 times to fill a scoring category.

If there’s a tie

The rulebook doesn’t say.

Game night gear

More starting rules

Browse available game rules

Embed this answer on your site

Copy this HTML into a blog post, forum or game café page. It’s plain text with a link back to this rule, so it works almost anywhere. More embed options

<blockquote class="whogoesfirst-rule" cite="https://whogoesfirst.fun/games/yahtzee-hasbro-en/">
  <p><strong>Who goes first in Yahtzee?</strong> To decide who goes first, each player in turn rolls all 5 dice. The player with the highest total goes first. Play then passes to the left.</p>
  <p>— <a href="https://whogoesfirst.fun/games/yahtzee-hasbro-en/">Official starting rule on Who Goes First?</a> (Milton Bradley/Hasbro English instructions, ©1996)</p>
</blockquote>

Found a different instruction in your edition? Send a correction with the game, edition, and source.