Casino Yahtzee, which as others have mentioned may have the most misleading name of all the Yahtzee variants, is nevertheless a very fun dice game for those who are okay with playing a game based primarily on luck.

This time around, the goal is complete specific lines of number-color combinations by rolling five colored dice, each with its own set of numbers on the faces (1-6, 2-7, 3-8, 4-9, and 5-10). If you complete a required line before anyone else does, you score the points for that line. You also have the option of "rolling for a bonus" at any time save the first turn. If all five dice have different numbers on them, you get their value added to your score, and if it's a straight (perhaps that's why it's Casino Yahtzee?), you get double their value. Rollers can roll up to five dice on their turn, in any combination (same die 5 times, two dice twice and 1 die once, etc.) to try and get the number/color they are looking for. As in regular Yahtzee, dice rolls only count for the player rolling.

A line can only be scored once, so there is some competition when rolling to get the same lines first, especially towards the end of the game. When all lines are scored, the game ends and, as with Yahtzee, highest score wins.

The game design is pretty nifty. A central rolling board connects to player boards with the line combos printed on them, and a screen to both hold the markers in place and to make for easy game clean up. The dice are nice and solid as well. Very good composition which makes the game replayable for as long as you'd care to do so.

This is, primarily, a game of luck with dice, ala craps. There are some strategic moves, such as timing when to roll for a bonus, or figuring odds of getting a particular roll or trying to block the other player(s), but it's not hard strategy. I like playing these kinds of games as a change of pace from the harder stuff my friends tend to play most frequently. If you only like games with strategy you will not enjoy this very much, so be warned.

In the games I've played so far, it seems to be a better strategy to get as many lines as possible rather than the bonuses. The last game I played I scored 2 bonuses in a row--one was even a rainbow bonus--but because you can't use the bonus dice to score on the board, I fell too far behind on regular scoring. This is worth examining in further play testing. Your mileage--and dice luck!--may vary.

All in all, perfect for a light game between heavier fare, or for groups who like games but find Monopoly to be as complex as they like to get.