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Perudo

Origins
In 1982, Cosmo Fry (entrepreneur, hotelier and descendant of the Fry chocolate empire) visited Peru and witnessed the popularity of a type of Liar’s Dice played both in homes and bars throughout the country. There are a number of variations of the rules, so upon returning in 1988 with his Peruvian partner, Alfredo Fernandini, he chose the rules needed to make the game easily understood and useable.

The working name for this game was Dudo but they were informed by their trade-mark attorney that neither Dudo nor Cacho (an alternative suggestion) were available. So they chose the trademark Perudo which was duly registered in the UK on July 18th 1988,and in the USA in 1991. Initially, the idea was to make the game exclusively in Peru with leather cups and sell it at a premium. Launched at the Inca London craft shop in 1989, it was then sold exclusively through Harrods.

In 1990, the first UK championships were held in the Groucho Club, soon becoming a national event.

In 1992, a third standard version of the game was introduced, catering to market demand for a cheaper version. This new version achieved promising sales across the board, retailing through W H Smith, Virgin and John Lewis. The best sales impact, however, was achieved through Harrods and Hamleys, with all three versions available to choose from. Elsewhere, in one New York store alone, 350 enquires and 250 orders were received in response to a New York Sunday Times article featuring the Third Annual Perudo Tournament held in London on the 19 November 1992. Seibu, the Hong Kong department store, also began stocking the game.

In August 1993 the standard travel version was modified and sold under license by the Lagoon Trading Company Ltd. The original version was reconsidered in response to market research and updated to include multi-coloured cups and a preferred pattern of cloth pouch. This licensing deal provided an additional 500 outlets in the UK (including House of Fraser, Selfridges, Fenwicks and BHS) and introduction to a new market, namely the gift market.

The Fourth Annual Perudo Tournament hosted by Stephen Fry was held on 17th November 1993 and comprised of approximately 100 teams of 3, divided by profession, competing for the coveted trophy. The idea – to establish which profession made for the best liar. This format of the tournament play proved very successful, when a team of barristers outwitted the bankers and clergymen in a closely fought final.

Since 1998 the game has been distributed in the UK by Paul Lamond Games and is available through Hamleys, Harrods, John Lewis, W.H. Smiths and Amazon. Yet again the Championships final is being held at the Groucho Club.

After some years of Cosmo & Alfredo supplying directly to American outlets, in 1995 Perudo was licensed to the USA being distributed firstly by University Games and then since 2002 by Reveal Entertainment Inc. In March of 2008, Reveal Entertainment disclosed that they no longer held the license to manufacturer the game.

The game is also now available under license in Germany and Austria by Piatnik, in France by West End Games, and is being distributed in Israel by AA Asher.

Rules

Object of the game
Each player starts with a cup and five dice of the same colour. A process of bidding, bluffing and luck reduces the number of dice in play. The winner is the last one left with any dice.

Play
All throw one die each to see who starts: the highest throw opens the bidding.

Simultaneously, all players put their dice in their cups and upend them on the table, using the cup to conceal their dice from the other players. Having looked at his or her own dice, the first player makes a call based on an estimate of how many dice of a particular number there are under all the cups on the table. Two factors should be considered when making a call:

The player to the opener’s left then makes a call, and the bidding proceeds around the table. Each bid must be higher than the last. So a call of ‘seven fours’ can be followed by, say, ‘seven fives’ or by ‘eight twos’, but not by ‘six sixes’ or by ‘seven twos’. Jump bids (‘nine threes’, for example) can also be made, with the intention of raising the stakes for the next player.

If a player feels unable to raise the bidding any further, the call of dudo (meaning ‘I doubt’ in Spanish) is made. This halts the bidding process and the last call made is accepted.

All players then uncover their dice (the player who called dudo first, the player who made the final bid last) and those of the relevant value counted and added to the number of aces revealed. If the call was, say, ‘seven twos’ and there are fewer than seven dice showing either two or ace, then the player who made the bid loses one die. If there are seven (or more) twos and aces showing, then the player who called dudo loses one die. All dice that are removed from the game should be concealed in the pouch so that the total number of dice in play is obscured.

The player who loses a die starts the bidding process in the next round.

The end of the game
A player who loses his or her final die is out of the game.

Lose 3 games in a row, and the loser must perform the forfeit.......

Click on the button below to view completed forfeits.