Generala (from the Spanish for "Alert") or sometimes Dados (Spanish for "dice"), is a dice game similar to the English game of poker dice, the Polish game Jacy-Tacy (yahtzee-tahtzee) and the American game Yahtzee. Although it is sometimes played in Europe and the United States, Generala is most popular in Iberoamerica.
Generala is a game played by two or more players. Players take turns rolling five dice. After each roll, the player chooses which dice (if any) to keep, and which to reroll. A player may reroll some or all of the dice up to three times on a turn.
The following combinations earn points:
A player may choose in which qualifying category to score a roll. For example, one need not enter 3-3-3-3-3 in Generala - it may also go in Threes or Four of a kind.
If a player makes a Straight, Full House, or Four of a Kind on the first roll of a given turn, it is worth 5 or 10 extra points. A player who makes Generala on the first roll of a turn automatically wins the game.
A player who fails to make any valid score, or chooses not to take any other score, may scratch (eliminate) a category, such as Generala or Twos. If a player scratches a category, that player cannot score on that category for the rest of the game. Specifically, if a player scratches Generala and subsequently rolls Generala on the first roll of a turn, it may not be used as an automatic win.
The winner, if no one scores an automatic Generala win, is the player who finishes the game with the most points.