Generala: the dice game Argentina grows up with
Generala is the family dice game of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay: five dice, a leather cup and a scorecard with eleven boxes. If you know Yahtzee, you already know most of it — both come from the same poker-dice family. The differences make Generala quicker: eleven boxes instead of thirteen, no upper-section bonus, and a 5-point “servida” bonus for making a hand on your very first roll.
A four-player game takes about 20 minutes, and every turn is a real decision: keep three fives or chase a straight, bank a full house now or gamble on Generala.
How our Generala plays
- On your turn, roll five dice up to three times. Between rolls, tap dice to hold or release them.
- After any roll — even the first — you can stop and score in one empty box on your card. After the third roll you must score.
- Ones to Sixes: the sum of that number, so three 4s score 12.
- Straight (1-2-3-4-5, 2-3-4-5-6 or 3-4-5-6-1) scores 20, Full house (three plus two) 30, Four of a kind 40 — five matching dice count too.
- Generala (five of a kind) scores 50. Double Generala scores 100 for another five of a kind, but only if your Generala box already holds 50.
- Servida: a straight, full house or four of a kind made on the first roll scores 5 more — 25, 35 or 45. Generala stays at 50.
- No luck? Scratch any open box for 0. Eleven boxes means exactly eleven rounds; when every card is full, the highest total wins, and a tie shares the win.
Play Generala online with friends
- Start a room and you get a link plus a 4-character room code (letters and digits). Drop it in the group chat; friends open it on a phone or laptop, type a nickname and they’re in. No account, no app download.
- 2 to 6 players. Short on people? The host adds bots. One human is enough, so you can also play solo against bots.
- Fair dice. The server rolls, not anyone’s phone. On your turn the card shows “+N” next to each open box, and you score with two taps, so a stray tap never scratches your Generala.
- Dropped connection? After 8 seconds auto-play finishes your turn; reopen the link in the same browser and your card is yours again. Late arrivals join once the current game ends.
- Game night in one room. After the final tally the host hits Rematch (the next player rolls first) or Switch game — same link. A game-night scoreboard runs across games: 3 points for a win, 2 for second, 1 for playing; bots don’t count.
Lobby settings and house rules
- Turn timer: off, 30 or 60 seconds. If time runs out, the game rolls for you if you hadn’t yet and fills the box it judges best.
- Servida bonus: on by default. Turn it off and straight, full house and four of a kind are always 20, 30 and 40.
- Servida Generala wins instantly: the famous Argentine house rule — five of a kind on the first roll ends the game on the spot. Off by default and only available with servida on. The odds are 1 in 1,296 per turn.
- Bot level: Rookie holds its most common number; Expert (the default) weighs the expected points of every possible hold.
Some families don’t count 3-4-5-6-1 as a straight or skip Double Generala; ours plays as above, changed only by these four switches.
Tips to score more
- Sacrifice Ones. With no upper bonus, Ones are worth 5 at most — scratch them when a turn falls apart. Scratching Generala costs more than it looks: it also kills the 100-point Double.
- Four of a kind after roll two? Roll the fifth die. Five matching dice still count as four of a kind, so the 40 is safe and you get a 1-in-6 shot at Generala.
- Hold the two-way straight. Because 3-4-5-6-1 counts, holding 3-4-5-6, 2-3-4-5 or 1-3-4-5 leaves two different numbers that finish it. 1-2-3-4 needs a 5 and nothing else.
- Bank servida hands. A first-roll full house is a sure 35. Breaking it up to chase Generala gives you less than a 1-in-10 chance at 50.
Want more dice tonight? From the lobby, switch the same room to Ludo or Dominoes for up to four players, or Backgammon for two.