Social deception A deck of cards
Cheat
Also called BS or I Doubt It
Play cards face down and say what they are, true or not. Get caught lying and you pick up the whole pile.
the best bit: calling “Cheat!” and flipping over four very confident lies
- Players
- 3–10 (best with 4–6)
- Time
- 15–30 min
- Learn in
- A minute
- Mood
- Lively
- Format
- Everyone for themselves
The 30-second version
Players take turns putting cards face down in the middle and saying what they are. You have to claim the next rank in order, and you're allowed to lie. Anyone can call "Cheat!" If you lied, you take the whole pile. If you didn't, the caller does. The first person out of cards wins.
read this, then walk through the steps below once.
Grab these
Set up
- Shuffle and deal the whole deck. It's fine if some people get an extra card.
How to play
-
Play face down
The player left of the dealer goes first. They put one or more cards face down in the middle and say what they are, like "Two Aces." The first play is always Aces.
-
Go up in order
The next player has to claim the next rank ("Three 2s"), then "One 3", and so on up to King and back around to Aces. Play as many cards as you like, but say how many.
-
Lie if you have to
Don't have the right rank? Play something else and say it is. Nobody has to know.
-
Call "Cheat!"
Before the next player goes, anyone can call "Cheat!" Flip over the cards just played. If any of them aren't what was claimed, the liar picks up the whole pile. If they were honest, the caller picks it up.
-
Carry on
After a challenge, the next player continues the sequence where it left off.
How to win
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins. But if your last play gets called and you were lying, the pile is yours and you're back in.
From experience…
- Telling the truth early builds trust you can cash in later.
- Track what you're holding. If you have three Kings and someone claims two, well.
- Call "Cheat" early, while the pile is small, to see how people react.