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How Does Liar's Dice Work
How to Start a Game of Liar's Dice
General Strategy When Playing Liar's Dice
Liar's Bar is a simple game of deception that you can play with strangers on the internet. Its simplicity means that anyone with a computer and internet connection can hop into the game and have a fun time bluffing against complete strangers or friends.
The game has two game modes: Liar's Deck and Liar's Dice. The second game mode was added in a recent update and works a bit differently from the first one. It is fundamentally a game centered around bluffing, with a sprinkling of chance, but there is a general strategy that players should keep in mind.
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How Does Liar's Dice Work
The game of Liar's Dice is simple enough at a glance. At the start of each round, the players roll a set of five six-sided dice each. Then, one player places a bid which consists of a face value and a quantity. The quantity represents the total number of times the face value might have appeared in the combined dice rolls of the players. On each successive turn, the face value or the quantity of dice has to be raised.
For example, at the start of the round, a player can bid that there are at least x2 4s on the table. The next player has to place a higher bid. This bid can be of the same face value but higher quantity, e.g., they can bid that there are x3 4s on the table. Alternatively, the bid can have a higher face value but keep the same quantity, e.g., they can bid that there are x2 5s on the table.
The quantity takes precedence over the face value, meaning that players can bid lower face values if they increase the quantity. If the initial bid was x3 6's, the next player can change it to x4 1's if they want to.
The game proceeds in a clockwise rotation, with only the next player being able to challenge any particular bid. If someone challenges a bid, the game will count the total quantity of the bid at face value.
If the quantity is lower than the bid amount, the person who bid that amount will have to drink a vial of poison. If the total quantity of the face value is higher or equal to the bid amount, then the player who challenges the bid will need to drink a vial of poison.
In this variation of the Liar's Dice, players get two chances. The first time they drink a vial of poison, their appearance starts to deteriorate. After someone gets it wrong another time, they will have to drink a second vial, which will eliminate them from the game.
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How to Start a Game of Liar's Dice
Unfortunately, there is no matchmaking in Liar's Bar. This means players need to manually join rooms or create their own. Players can join public lobbies hosted by other players with open spots, or they can host their own lobbies.
If you join someone else's lobby, you cannot change the game mode, since only the host can choose which mode the lobby plays. If you host your own lobby, you can invite friends or make it public and let people join on their own. As a host, you can change which mode you play from the top of your screen, where you can choose between Liar's Deck and Liar's Dice.
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General Strategy When Playing Liar's Dice
If you're playing in a full lobby with 4 players, there are a total of 20 dice in play until one player drinks two vials of poison. The exact statistics and probabilities of dice are surprisingly complicated, and there isn't a lot of time for computation when you're playing a game of bluff, so you'll need to play the game without any helpful formulas, but some general rules should help you make the right calls.
- Probability for Calling Bluffs: The probability that any face value appears more than 6 times is less than 1% for a set of 15 dice. This means if the bid ever exceeds 6 plus the amount of the bid face value in your hand, you can confidently call the bluff.
- Choosing Your Own Bluffs: When it's your turn to raise the bid, you should always choose the number you have the most. You can bid 2 more than the amount you hold with confidence, regardless of what the other players are bidding.
- Communication: Talking to the other players in the lobby and convincing them is a surprisingly good strategy in amateur bluff games.
- Have Fun: There are no real stakes or rewards for playing this game. If you win, you do get a few points that can lead to a rank up for you, but there isn't any penalty for losing, and getting a higher rank doesn't mean much either. The core of the game is meeting new people, playing a couple of games with them, and having fun.
- Endgame: For the final rounds, there are only two people, meaning just five unknown dice. In this case, the expected number of matching numbers is much lower. Keep that in mind when bluffing, or calling the other person's bluffs. A bid of six 2's is either a massive bluff, or the other person has five 2's. Choose your next move depending on the other opponent's personality and previous record.