Yahtzee

Date: 1956

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Designer: A Canadian couple who asked Edwin S. Lowe to market it for them

Why It's Significant (in 25 words or less): Yahtzee can legitimately lay claim to the title of "grandfather of all modern dice games."

More About Yahtzee: Players roll five dice, and can choose to reroll some or all of the dice up to two times, trying to get the best score in various categories (e.g. three of a kind, four of a kind, full house, small straight). Numerous editions (e.g. Casino Yahtzee, Challenge Yahtzee, and Word Yahtzee) have been published through the years, and the game Kismet is essentially the same.