Other name(s): Bullshit ; B.S. ; I doubt it ; Bluff
The setup
1) One deck of cards is used for four or less players. Combine two decks of cards if you are five players of more.
2) Shuffle all the cards and deal them between all the players. Some players may have one card more or less than other players. Players can organize their cards from lowest to highest (The lowest card is 2 and the highest is Ace).
How to play
1) The player who sits to the left of the dealer (clockwise) takes the first turn. He chooses a card from his hand, lays it face down on the table and announces what rank it is, for example “3” (suit is irrelevant), which can be a lie.
2) The next player then adds a card to the pile of one rank higher than the previous card added, also face down, and announces what rank it is (for example “4”), which again can be a lie. If an Ace is played (the highest), the next card as to be a 2 (to start over). Play continues like this until the game is over.
If any player thinks another player is lying before the end of his turn, they can call the player out on it by announcing “Cheat”, and the card in question is revealed to all players:
- If the player was lying, they have to take the whole pile of cards into their hand.
- If the player was not lying, the caller must take the pile into their hand. Once the next player has placed a card, however, it is too late to call out any previous players.
How to win
The game ends when any player runs out of cards.
Game variations
- You could allow multiple cards of the same rank to be played at once.
- A common variant allows a player to pass his turn if he doesn’t want to lie or if all the cards of the required rank have clearly been previously played.
- Some variants allow a rank above or below the previous rank to be played. Others allow the current rank to be repeated or progress down through ranks instead of up only.
- In some other variations, a player may also lie about the number of cards he is playing, if he feels confident that other players will not notice the cheat. This is challenged and revealed in the usual manner.