Deal all players a random deck of 9 Cards. Keep the remaining cards to the side as a facedown draw pile.
Playing with lots of players (6–8)? Start everyone with 6 Cards instead.
Pick anyone to be the start player (“Liar”).
The game ends as soon as somebody has only 3 cards left. Rank players based on how many cards they have left; more is better.
Gameplay happens in simultaneous rounds.
First, all players divide their deck into 3 decks (“3 dice”) as fairly as possible, without looking.
Then, everyone simultaneously rolls their dice. That is, shuffle every pile and secretly look at the card on top.
Starting from the Liar, in clockwise turns, players must now guess what’s on the table. This includes all dice, not just their own.
A guess has two required elements.
- NUMBER: You say how many cards are in your combo.
- TARGET: You say a specific number or color.
For example, a guess might be “2 cards with number 3” or “4 cards with color Red”.
You may add a third element to your guess, depending on the chosen TARGET.
- Target a number? Then you may say “less than TARGET”. For example: “2 cards with a number less than 3.”
- Target a color? Then you may say “without TARGET”. For example: “4 cards without Red.”
Crucially, you must always guess higher than the previous player. This means your NUMBER—how many cards—must be higher. The other properties can be whatever you need.
If you don’t want to do that, you challenge the previous guess and call their bluff.
- Reveal all the top cards of all the dice. Check if the previous guess was correct: at least their guessed combo must appear on the table.
- If so, you were wrong and you lose. If not, then your challenge was correct, and the player before you loses.
The loser of a round discards one of their dice (faceup).
They become the new Liar. Play the next round!
Played the base game and ready for more? Or looking to tweak the game to fit your playing group better? Check out these variants and expansions!
This variant adds another option for guessing: straights. A straight is a set of numbers in numeric order (without gaps or skips).
- NUMBER: Say how many cards are in your straight (as usual)
- ELEMENT: Then state one specific number inside the interval.
For example, such a guess might be “5 cards in numeric order, including the number 3.”
When is a straight higher than another guess?
If at least one of the numbers you said (NUMBER or ELEMENT) is higher than the NUMBER of the previous guess.
This variants adds another option for guessing: vague guesses. Instead of stating the specific color or number, you just say “of the same color” or “of the same number”.
For example, “3 cards of the same number” or “4 cards of the same color”.
When is a vague guess higher than another guess?
- If the other guess is vague too, then the usual rule applies (higher NUMBER)
- If the other guess is specific, then your NUMBER must be at least double the previous NUMBER.
For example, the previous guess was “3 Cards with a 2”. Then you can only guess “X Cards of the same number” if X is at least 6.
This “conversion” also works in reverse.
If you make a specific guess, whereas the previous guess was vague, your guess only needs to be higher than half the previous number.
For example, the previous guess was “6 Cards of the same number”. Then you may do a specific guess like “4 Cards with a 2” and it’s considered higher. (Because 4 is greater than 6/2 = 3.)
To actually use all possible cards (instead of just the ones with which players start), add the following rule:
The losing player of a round may also swap one of their cards with one from the draw pile.
If you have a very high player count—the draw pile is basically empty—you can replace this with allowing the loser to swap with another player.
To make the game more predictable,
- During setup, have everyone show their starting cards to the rest of the table.
- During gameplay, on your turn, you must reveal 1 of your secret dice (which you haven’t revealed yet this round).
This expansion adds a tiny bit of extra material: Wildcards.
These cards always match the current guess that’s being challenged.
- If the combo was based on numbers, then every wildcard is the number you want.
- If the combo was based on colors, then every wildcard is the color you want.
This expansion adds more material: Power Cards. These cards have no suit or number.
Instead, these cards show a unique combo (that you would never be able to guess otherwise).
- If you roll this card, you’re allowed to guess this specific combo.
- When you do, explain the combo and state its unique value.
Other guesses are only higher than that if …
- They’re also a Power Card with a higher value.
- Or the number of cards is higher than the previously stated combo value.
For example,
- A power card might say “two pairs”. That is, two numbers that appear two times. And say the value of that card is 3.
- Then other players can bid HIGHER by saying …
- “I have a Power Card with value X”, where X is higher than 3.
- Or “My combo has X cards with …” where X is higher than 3.
You are allowed to lie about having a power card, making up some random combination and value. If challenged on this, you always lose.