Classic Games: Perudo (Liar’s Dice)

Sometimes the best games are the simplest ones. The ones with simple rules that lead to deep and nuanced gameplay.

One such game that my family has been playing for ages is called Perudo. Basically each player starts with 5 dice. On each turn, the die are put into a cup, shaken, and the cup is flipped over. Then the betting and bluffing begins. The first player makes a bet as to the total number of die of any one number (say 5’s) there are under everyone’s cup.

The bets have to go up numerically. So if I were to bet that there are 3 fives, the next person would have to bet, minimally, that there were 3 sixes or four twos. In Perudo, ones are the wildcard that count as any number. As the bets rise, the likelihood of them being met goes down. At any point on your turn, you can challenge the previous players bet, rather than raising it. Then, everyone uncovers their die to check if the bet has been made.

While you play the game, you quickly realize that there is an upper-limit on the likelihood of a bet being satisfied. The fun thing about this game is that the upper-limit gets smaller because the loser of each round gets rid of one die. So, with less die, the less likely that there will be alot of any given number.

The enjoyable part of Perudo, though, is really the bluffing. Some people bluff all the time. Others never bluff. Some have a nice balance. You can figure out each person’s tendencies after a few rounds if you pay close attention.

Related Link: Video games Australia Buy video games from stores in Australia

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.