Cockroach Poker by this point has become a modern classic in card games and mainly because of its simplicity to play but also the great moments it creates.
The deck is made up of sixty-four cards, all varieties of creepy critters. There are eight of each type split up into the following categories.
● Rats
● Bats
● Scorpions
● Spiders
● Cockroaches
● Stink bugs
● Flies
● Toads
Most of them are pretty immediately recognisable however it is worth noting that cockroaches and stink bugs can look similar at a glance so when teaching or learning I suggest highlighting that cockroaches are orange and stink bugs are green. Every other creature is pretty clear. Also in the back of every card is a reminder of the eight suits in the game to aid with the bluffing!
The Gameplay
Cockroach Poker is a game of bluffing and lying. You start by dealing the deck evenly between the players and then selecting someone to go first.
On a turn, a player simply takes one card from their hand, lays it face down on the table, slides it to a player of their choice, and declares a type of critter, e.g., “Stink bug”. The player receiving the card then has two options:
1) Accept the card: say either “true” or “false”, then reveal the card. If this player is wrong in their claim, they keep the card on the table in front of them face up; if they are right, the player who gave them the card places it face up in front of them.
2) Peek at the card: Look at the card secretly and pass it face down to another player. You can then repeat the original type of critter or say a new type claiming the previous player as a liar. This new player again has the choice of accepting the card or passing it, unless the card has already been seen by all other players, in which case the player must take the first option.
Whoever lost a challenge and had to place the card before them on the table begins the next round. The game ends when a player has no cards to pass on their turn or when a player has four cards of the same critter on the table in front of them. In either case, this player loses and everyone else wins!
Player Count: on the box it says two to six players. I have played this with groups of up to 12 with no problems at all. When playing with higher player counts, I usually do one draw pile rather than distributing the cards and also limit the loser to having two of a kind in front of them rather than four. This works really well and also adds a level of memory as a card gets passed around a larger group.
Age Recommendation: On the box it recommends eight years and over however I have been playing this with my nephew since he was five or six and he still loves it now at eleven years old. There is nothing a small child loves more than having permission to lie!
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