Cockroach Poker

We’re here again, in this space where I get to freely speak about quick, easy, and fun games that will brighten any games night. I’ve already stopped at some number-centric stations with The Mind and 6 Nimmt!, so this time, as a change of pace, I wanted to depart from numeracy, and wade in the tumultuous waters of dishonesty.

Cockroach Poker is a bluffing game for two-to-six players that relies more on social deduction than card counting (and I include it for all of you Slytherin’s out there). The cards in Cockroach Poker show a slough of nasty critters – from rats, to bats, to stink bugs, to spiders – and if we’re caught with a set of four, we lose. The game is simple: I take a card from my hand, play it face-down, push it across the table to you and say as flatly as I can: “This is a fly.” You need to declare if I’m honest or if I’m lying, and if you’re right, that card gets added to my collection. But if you’re wrong, it gets added to yours. Better still, you can choose to pass, which lets you peek at the card, push it across to Lockie and say: “He’s right. It’s a fly.” Or: “He’s a rotten liar. It’s a cockroach.” But you could be bluffing too, and Lockie doesn’t know that. What’s great about Cockroach Poker is everyone can see what sets everyone else already has, so you can start forcing people into positions where they have to say what you want them to say. This adds another element to the table politics that’s really enjoyable. And there’s nothing quite like trying to trick someone into getting their last toad, and watching them wriggle out of that trap at every turn