Tall Tales

How to play

2 to 6 players. Each angler has 5 dice hidden under their creel. Lose a die whenever you are caught out; the last angler with dice wins.

A round

• Everybody rolls their dice in secret. Then, in turn, each player tells a tale about the dice of the whole table, such as "at least 5 × 4", or calls the last tale.
• Stars are wild: they count as any face. A tale on stars counts only the stars, and the first tale of a round cannot be on stars.
• A tale must be taller than the last one: more dice, or as many dice of a higher face. Moving to stars, half as many dice (rounded up) are enough; from stars to stars, more stars; moving away from stars takes twice as many dice, plus one.

Calling a tale

• "I doubt it!": every die is shown. If the table holds fewer dice of the face named (stars included) than the tale said, the player who told it loses a die; otherwise the doubter does.
• "Spot on!": if the table holds exactly as many dice of the face named (stars included) as the tale said, you win a die back (never more than 5); otherwise you lose one.
• Whoever lost a die starts the next round; after a spot on that was right, the caller starts. A player without dice is out.