Liar's Dice

Sympkyn of the Moor

Number of players: 2+
Type of game: Dice
Period: 1552

History

Liar’s dice originated as a bluffing board game titled Dudo during the 15th century from the Inca Empire, and subsequently spread to Latin American countries. The game later spread to European countries via Spanish conquistadors. In the 1970s, numerous commercial versions of the game were released.

Rules

There are two main versions of liar’s dice. I have found a couple of references to the first version possibly being played by Vikings, while the second may have been played by pirates.
The second version is more commonly played at SCA events in the Crescent Isles.

Version 1

2 dice are rolled in a box.
The scores from highest to lowest are
2-1, 6-6, 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-1, 6-5, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, 5-4, 5-3, 5-2, 5-1, 4-3, 4-2, 4-1, 3-2, 3-1
The player that rolled the dice declares a score and passes the box to the next player who may do 1 of 4 things

  1. He can accuse the first player of lying. The box is opened and if the declared score is equal to or less than the declared score the accusers loses a life. If the declared score is higher than the dice the declarer loses a life.
  2. He can accept the score and shake the box to re-roll. He then checks the dice and declares a score. The declared score must be higher than the previous players
  3. He can shake the box and declare a new score without checking. The declared score must be higher than the previously declared score
  4. He can pass the box to the next player and declare a score, this can either be the same as the previous players or higher

Once a player loses a life the round restarts

Version 2

There are a number of variations to these rules so it’s worth confirming which set are being used at any time.

Each player has 5 dice.

  1. All dice a rolled and kept hidden from the other players.
  2. The declaring player calls a number of a specific face
  3. The next player can call him or can declare either a higher number of the same face or a number of higher faces
  4. If a player is accused of lying then all dice are revealed and the player with the highest correct claim wins

Optional Rules and Variants

  • If calling a higher number the number of faces must be the same or higher as well. EG if 5 4s are called then the next player can call 6(or more) 4s or 5(or more) 5s or 6s
  • If the caller is correct the declare loses a dice otherwise the accuser loses a dice
  • A number might be wild(eg 1s could be used as any number)
  • If all players are down to their last dice the call changes to be the value of the dice added together and subsequent callers can only increase the value.

In Ildhafn the most common set of variations are

  • 1’s are wild
  • you can call the same number of a higher face or a higher number of any face
  • the losing player in an accusation loses a die, if you run out of dice you are out
  • If all players are down to their last dice the call changes to be the value of the dice added together and subsequent callers can only increase the value.