Play Balut Online — Filipino & Scandinavian Dice Game

Balut on Arcadia

Balut is a classic five-dice game played widely in the Philippines and Scandinavia — a Yahtzee-family scorecard game with a tighter category list and faster pacing. Roll five dice up to three times per turn, choose what to keep, and lock your result into one of seven scoring categories. Outscore the AI across the full card to win.

How to Play

Press ROLL to roll all five dice on your turn.
Tap any die to hold (or release) it between rolls.
You get up to three rolls per turn — reroll the unheld dice each time.
After at least one roll, tap a category cell on your scorecard to lock in your score.
The AI then takes its turn. Repeat until both players have filled all seven categories.
Highest total wins.

Scoring Categories

Fours / Fives / Sixes — score that face value times the count of matching dice (e.g. three 6s = 18).
Straight — 1-2-3-4-5 scores 15, 2-3-4-5-6 scores 20. Any other combination scores 0.
Full House — three of one kind plus two of another scores the sum of all five dice. Otherwise 0.
Choice — any roll; scores the sum of all five dice. The flexible safety category.
Balut — five of a kind scores 20 + the sum of the dice (e.g. five 6s = 50). Otherwise 0.

Strategy

Protect Balut early. Five-of-a-kind is rare — don't sacrifice the slot on a poor roll until late.
Use Choice as a safety net. With no shape, dump high totals (around 22+) into Choice to bank guaranteed points.
Chase the Straight when you have four sequential dice — the missing fifth has roughly 1-in-3 odds across two rerolls.
Hold three of a kind, then a pair when chasing Full House — the pair is the harder half to land.
Don't waste high-pip dice on low categories. Saving 4s/5s/6s for the upper section pays off — three sixes in Sixes scores more than three sixes assigned to Choice's tail end.

Practical Tips

Tap a die to lock it. A jade glow plus the HOLD label confirm it's held.
The roll dots under the dice show how many rolls you've used this turn.
Cells highlighted in jade-green show your potential score for the current dice — click to commit.
A red potential score means 0 points — sometimes the best move when you've run out of better slots.
The game runs for seven rounds (one per category) — pace yourself; you cannot reuse a category.

FAQ

Where does Balut come from?

Balut is most strongly associated with the Philippines and Scandinavia, where it has been popular as a household and pub dice game for generations. It belongs to the Yahtzee family of scorecard dice games.

How is Balut different from Yahtzee or Generala?

Balut has only seven categories (vs Yahtzee's 13 and Generala's 10). There's no upper-section bonus, no first-roll bonus, and the only upper categories are Fours, Fives, and Sixes — making each turn faster and the scoring tighter.

Do I have to use a category every turn?

Yes — every turn ends with you assigning your dice to one unused category, even if it scores 0. Choosing where to take a zero is a real strategic decision.