Liar's dice
Everyone hides their dice and bids on what the whole table is holding. Somebody is lying.
The version below is the common one, with ones wild. It is the game from the pirate films, and it is better than it looks.
Setup
Everyone gets five dice and something to hide them under, a cup or a hand. All players roll at once and look at their own dice only.
Bidding
A bid is a quantity and a face: four fives means the speaker believes there are at least four fives on the table, counting everyone’s dice.
Going clockwise, each player must either raise the bid or challenge. To raise, increase the quantity, or keep the quantity and name a higher face. Four fives can become four sixes or five twos, but not four fours.
Ones are wild
Ones count as any face. If the bid is four fives, a player holding two fives and a one is holding three towards it. Bidding on ones themselves is allowed and works differently in strict Perudo; at home, the simple rule is that a bid of ones may not be raised in quantity by less than double.
Calling the bluff
Instead of raising, say liar. Everyone lifts their cups and the dice matching the bid are counted, ones included.
- If there are fewer than the bid claimed, the bidder loses a die.
- If there are at least that many, the challenger loses a die.
Everyone re-rolls and the player who lost a die starts the next round. Lose all five and you are out. Last player with dice wins.
Questions
Do ones always count as wild?
In the common version yes. Some groups drop wild ones entirely, which makes the maths simpler and the bluffing flatter.
Can I bid the same quantity and a lower face?
No. A raise must be either more dice, or the same number of dice on a higher face.
What happens when only two players are left?
It plays the same, and gets very sharp. Some groups switch to counting ones as ordinary ones at that point.