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How to play Liar's Dice

Goal

Be the last player with dice. Everyone hides their dice under a cup, then you take turns making bigger and bigger claims about all the dice on the table — until somebody shouts “Liar!”.

Setup

2 to 6 players. Everyone starts with 5 dice (or 3 for a quick game). Each round all the cups are shaken at once: you see only your own dice, and everyone can see how many dice each player has left.

Fair secret dice

There's no dealer and no computer in the middle deciding the dice, so every cup is shaken with help from all the players: each browser locks in a secret before the round starts, and all the secrets together decide the dice. Nobody can rig a roll or peek at someone else's cup. When someone calls “Liar!”, every cup is opened and checked against what was locked in.

On your turn

A bid is a number and a face — “4 × ⚄” means “there are at least four fives among all the dice on the table”. On your turn either:

• Bid higher: more dice (any face), or the same number of a higher face. After 4 × ⚄ you could bid 4 × ⚅, 5 × ⚁, 6 × ⚄…
• or call “Liar!” on the last bid if you don't believe it.

The player who lost the last challenge opens the next round (the first opener is picked at random).

Ones are wild

With the standard rule, every ⚀ counts as any face — four fives means fives plus ones. You can also bid on ones themselves:

• To switch to ones you only need half the number, rounded up: after 5 × ⚄ you can bid 3 × ⚀.
• To switch back from ones you need double plus one: after 3 × ⚀ you must bid at least 7 of a face.

If ones are set to Normal when the table is opened, a one is just a one and the lowest face.

Losing dice

• After “Liar!”, all cups are lifted and the matching dice are counted.
• If there are at least as many as the bid said, the bid was true and the caller loses a die. Otherwise the bidder loses one.
• With Spot on switched on you can instead claim the last bid is exactly right. If it is, you win a die back (up to your starting number); if not, you lose one.
• Lose your last die and you're out.

Players who leave

If someone leaves or disconnects for good, they're out. If that happens in the middle of the bidding, the round is dealt again without them; if it happens while the cups are being opened, that challenge doesn't count and nobody else loses a die.

How the game ends

The last player with dice wins. Everyone else is ranked by how long they lasted.

Tips

• With ones wild, about a third of the dice you can't see will match any face (two to six). Count your own, add a third of the rest — that's a safe-ish bid.
• Watch what others bid: someone who keeps pushing fives probably has some.
• A small bluff on a face you don't have can lead the next player into a trap.

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