I Doubt It! (Dining-Out Edition)

This is a great game for three or more players. Whoever gets rid of all of his cards first wins.

Deal all the cards in the deck to the players. The person who was dealt the ace of clubs starts the game. That player must throw in his ace(s), facedown while saying how many cards he is putting down. The next person throws in 2s and the next person 3s, always facedown, and so on, following the order in which the cards were dealt.

The thrower must be truthful about the number of cards he puts on the table, but he can attempt to fool the other players by putting down cards that aren’t the value he’s claiming. For example, he may be holding only one 2, but when it is his turn to put down 2s, he can put down a 2 and a 3 facedown and say, “Two 2s.”

Once a thrower has made his claim, any other player can say, “I doubt it,” until the next player throws. Upon calling “I doubt it,” play stops and the cards are turned over to check the thrower’s claim. If it was a bluff, the thrower must take the entire pile of cards. If it was not a bluff, the challenger takes the pile. If no one doubts the claim, play continues in the order of the deal.

Feel free to add a “dining-out” component to this game: When a cheater is caught, for example, he has to feed the person of the doubter’s choosing a bite of food, in addition to taking the pile!