Dead Man's Bluff

Dead Man's Bluff is a game about reading people, not cards.

• Easy-to-learn. 
• Fast-paced.
• Loads of fun. 

Players aren’t eliminated until they’ve lost all their cards. So if a bluff goes wrong, you’re not sitting out for 30-minutes while everyone else has fun.

So the comeback kid around every game table isn’t dead until their final bluff is called. 

TLDR: HOW THE GAME WORKS 

• Some cards are in your hands, some you take face down. 
• You make a bet - “Three 4’s” 
• Someone now has to bet higher or call you a liar. 
• Bluff so hard the table follows you to the depths. A bid of Seven 3’s when you’re only holding 4, is either genius or suicide, and nobody knows which until the count.
• Lady Luck separates the liars from the winners - if you’re right, they lose their cards. If you’re wrong, you lose yours. 
• Fate is fickle, so the card leader (person with most cards) can change each round. 
• This means you can go from almost out, to glory with one bold bet, or by calling one outrageous bluff. 
• You win by having the most cards at the end of the game (when the Crew deck runs out).

Dead Man’s Bluff is the card game equivalent of 'Liar's dice'.

You make a bold claim with face down cards. 50% chance you’re right, 50% chance you’re lying. 

They don’t know and YOU don’t know if you’re bluffing until someone calls you out on it. 

And if fate determines you’re a liar, you lose your cards. 

If fate is on your side, the person who calls you out, loses their cards  

Personal vendetta’s against your Auntie Marge don’t count. Everyone at the table is united against the person with the Dead Man’s Card (aka the person with the most cards) - and that can change every round.

You already know how to play this. You have played it at every family dinner where somebody insisted they were not the one who ate the last slice.

You’ve probably played Among Us - or TRAITORS. 

You’ve seen the game ‘Liar’s Dice’ in the Pirates of the Caribbean Movie.  

There is one rule to learn: say a number, say a value, and be prepared to defend it. 

Everything else you will pick up in your first round of play… We have a 1 page sheet of rules - because nothing kills the vibe more than opening a new game, excited to play, drinks are flowing, everyone is happy… and then an 8-page booklet of rules is read out to the table. 

“BORING!” … That’s not Dead Man’s Bluff. 

We have taught it to over 30 friends who had never played a card game more complicated than Uno… They all got it instantly. 

And when they come to our bar - they all request to play it again.

Most bluffing games are one decision deep. You lie, someone calls, you lose a token, you go again. There is nothing to build and nothing to protect.

Dead Man's Bluff gives you an entire 15 card deck to defend.

Every round you lose costs you real cards out of your own 15. Every round you win takes real cards out of somebody else's stash. 

You don’t need to track points on paper - or keep a sharp pencil, you just watch your enemies shrink. 

And the moment your pile of Spoils gets to be the biggest, you inherit the Dead Man's Card and the entire table turns on you.

Can your bluffs survive? Or does your stash take a dive. 

The most accurate bluffer and lie-caller wins. Anyone who goes out too hot, or plays too loose, will meet their fate. 

No, it won't. Here is why we can say that with a straight face.

Most bluffing games run out of steam because the table learns each other's 'tells' in about four rounds. Once you can read everyone, the game stops.

Dead Man's Bluff keeps moving because sometimes fate makes your bluffs TRUE.

The Crew Deck in the middle loses two cards every round, so the maths under every bid changes as the game goes on. 

Your deck shrinks or grows depending on how you have played. And the Dead Man's Card moves to whoever is winning, which means the person everybody is hunting changes constantly.

By round five you are not playing the cards you have - or the person who took yours last time.. You are playing against whoever has the target on their back.

Parle’s can’t be formed with your wife or best friend.. It’s every scallywag for themselves - and that’s what makes this so fun to play. 

6 Individual stashes of 15 cards each (Featuring Crowns, Daggers, and Skulls, Ace through 5)

• 1 x The Dead Man's Card (the single most hated card in the deck)
• 1 x Single-page Instruction sheet (you will only need it once - because nobody likes reading an 8-page rulebook twice.)

[ASSET NEEDED: A top-down shot of the whole kit on dark wood please Yannick]

ADD-ONS 

< Graphic needed of add ons, dice, dead man's deck, flag & coins. Mock-ups fine for now >

Escape Room Games x Ellusionist collaboration

The story behind working with Ellusionist on Dead Man's Bluff is a funny one. 

Originally, we were going to work with 6 different artists on 6 different decks designs. To create something that felt unique. 

We sent off 10 different deck design examples (from Google) as references to artists. 

8 of those 10 designs were done by Oban Jones (Creative Director of Ellusionist.com).

He responded with his quote for the work... "I can definitely help, because these are almost all my designs." 

We then brought in the entire Ellusionist Team across Video & Marketing to help bring this Kickstarter to life. They add a layer of understanding to Kickstarter, from raising over $2M USD themselves, across their own campaigns. 

There's a huge crossover between what their backers/customers love - and what our backers/customers love, so to do this right, it made sense to collaborate to make it the best that it could be. 

This isn't our first rodeo, and we've learned from previous successful campaigns, what works and what doesn't. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: To exceed expectations, we can only offer Xmas delivery on a specific number of earlybird rewards. Lucky backers to this tier can get the main game only. Any add-ons will ship in early 2027. 

The game and prototyping have already been done on our dime. Manufacturing partners have been chosen - and becuase this isn't our first Kickstarter, we have a solid grasp on timelines & how to fulfil efficiently. 

This time around, all backers will get their rewards shipped directly from our manufacturers, to save you time & cost. The saving has been passed along to you - and allowed us to keep the game at a more affordable price. 

As always, any shipping questions post-campaign will be answered within 48 hours by our 'Escape Room Games' team. So you won't be left in the dark after the campaign finishes.

What lies between the dead and bold, is a truth well kept, or a lie well told.

So damn the Devil and chance the fall, for a little more, we'll risk it all.

In a dimly lit corner of the Siren’s Call tavern, pirates, rogues and sellswords eye your cards; theirs to be won if they are as cunning as they would have you believe! You raise the stakes, willing anyone to challenge your bid, and a hush falls over the table. 

Dead Man’s Bluff is a game of pushing your luck when the odds are in your favour and bluffing when they aren’t! Played over several rounds, the winner of each round takes their opponent's cards as the spoils for a lie well told, or a truth well kept. Bluff your way into winning the most cards off the other players and be crowned the winner!