Liars Dice

After discussing our thoughts on the reading 'Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Dynamics' written by Mark Le Blanc we started to analyse the game 'Liars Dice'.

The game works best with about 5-8 players.

The basic rules of the game are:

• Each player starts with 5 dice.
• Players roll all the dice but hides their values from their opponents.
• Each player bids on how many dice have been thrown altogether.
• Example: A player bids there are six 4's that have been thrown.
• The next player decides to either call their bluff or bid higher. The bid can be a different number but the quantity needs to be the same or more.
• Example: After a player bids there are six 4's. The next player can call their bluff or say something like seven 4's or seven 2's
• If a player calls their bluff and their wrong and in fact there are six 4's (or more) then the player who called bluff loses a dice.
• If a player was bluffing and they were caught out then they lose a dice. 
• The goal of the game is to be the last man standing with as many dice as possible.

Understanding the rules comes much quicker while playing the game. After playing a few rounds there is a clear balance of uncertainty and inevitability. The player is unsure of what dice are out there and whether the bid exceeds or falls short of the actual number. The players don't know whether the bid is wrong, and it is inevitable that each round will end eventually concluding the game. 

The dice is the 'ticking clock', as more gets taken away the game speeds up. And at the end, calling a bluff comes much sooner because of the fact there are less dice. 

As the player keeps more dice their knowledge of whats in the game increases which is a tool also used in other games called 'Fog of War'

To extend that feeling of uncertainty we played the game without asking who had how many dice. This hidden information can give players clues so they only way of know now, of how many dice are out there, players need to pay more attention. 

The real drama in the game comes from uncertainty and the secrecy of trying to bluff your way through. There can also be quite a bit of strategy involved. If someone has only one dice left and you are trying to get them out, you need to know where your opponent will stop. So that they don't bluff you, but enough so the following player bluffs them. Very fun game to play!