Bidinca is a game for 2-6 players. It is derived from a dice game that is believed to have originated in South America. The generic name of the game in English is Liar's Dice, but there are many variants including commercial ones. This version, Bidinca, is easy to learn, exciting to play, and requires a good blend of bluffing and judgment as well as luck.

This version is ideal for playing on a portable device, such as a phone, tablet, netbook or laptop, that can be handed round from player to player so that only one player can see the screen at a time.

Overview

Each player initially has five dice. In each round of the game, each player still in the game will have from 1 to 5 dice still in his possession, which are thrown. A player is able to see his own dice, but not those of the other players.

The players then take turns to make a bid, which represents the minimum number of dice of a certain number that will be found in total when all the players’ hands are revealed.

The player whose turn it is generally has two choices: make a higher value bid than the previous bid or else challenge the current highest bidder - the last player to bid. If a challenge is made, a check is carried out to see whether the bid is supported by the dice thrown by all the players. If it is, the challenger loses the round; if it is not, the highest bidder loses.

The loser is penalized by losing one of his dice. When a player has lost all dice, i.e. five rounds, he is eliminated from the game. The winner of the game is the only player left when all others have been eliminated.

A bid takes the general form: so many dice of a particular face value, e.g. 7x5s, 8x2s, or 4x1s. In Bidinca, 1s are wild, so that they can represent any other number the bidder chooses. So, a bid of 7x5s means that the total number of 5s and 1s thrown by all the players must be 7 or more. Obviously, 4x1s just means a minimum of 4 dice showing 1.

The value of a bid is measured very simply. For face values 2 through to 6, the value of a bid is (number of dice bid x 10) + the face value. So, the value of a bid of 7x5s is (7x10) + 5 = 75; that of 3x4s is (3x10) + 4 = 34; that of 9x6s is 96; that of 11x2s is 112; and so on - easy: just append the face value to the number bid and read it as a number.

1s, being wild, are, not suprisingly, treated differently. The value of a bid in 1s is number of dice x 20. So, the values of bids in 1s are: 1x1 = 20; 2x1s = 40; 3x1s =60; 4x1s = 80; 5x1s = 100; and so on.

At the beginning of the game, the first bidder is determined at random, and all dice are thrown.

The first bidder makes a bid, and then it is the turn of the player to his left, and so on. When a player decides not to make a higher bid but to make a challenge, bidding stops. Then, a check is made of all the dice thrown to see whether the last (highest) bid is supported by the dice thrown.

The loser of the round (the challenger if the bid is supported, the highest bidder if it is not) loses one of his dice.

The loser of the round becomes the first bidder in the next round. However, when a player has lost 5 rounds and all 5 dice, he is eliminated from the game. In this case, the first bidder in the next round is the player to his left.

It is worth noting that bluffing is key in this game, so a player making a bid in a certain dice value does not necessarily have to have any of these in his hand.

An illustrative round

Suppose this is the second round of the game and there are 4 players, Red (R), Yellow (Y), Green (G) and Blue (B), sitting in that order clockwise. All still have 5 dice, except for Yellow who only has 4, having lost the first round. The throws might be:

R: 1, 1, 5, 5, 6
Y: 2, 2, 3, 3
G: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4
B: 1, 2, 2, 4, 5

Bidding starts with Y, the loser of the last round, and progresses as follows:

Y: 3x2s Value = 32
G: 3x4s Value = 34
B: 5x2s Value = 52
R: 3x1s Value = 60
Y: 7x3s Value = 73
G: 8x3s Value = 83
B: Challenges Green

Therefore, in total, all the dice thrown must show at least 8x3s or 1s, if Green's bid is to be supported and Blue is to lose - otherwise Green loses.

R contributes 2x1s;
Y contributes 2x3s;
B contributes 1x1;

So, the total number of 3s and 1s is 7 - not enough to support the bid of 8. Blue’s challenge therefore succeeds, and Green loses the round and a die, so now plays only with 4 dice. Green also becomes first bidder in the next round.

Playing the game

The game screen has, at the top, 6 coloured boxes: red, yellow, green, blue, magenta and brown. One player plays as 'red', the next player clockwise plays as 'yellow', the next as 'green', and so on.

The game is started by selecting the number of players (2 - 6) by pressing the die displaying this number.

The first bidder is selected randomly. The bidder's colour is displayed. The device (e.g. phone or computer) is handed to that player, who presses the Go button.

Just below the top row showing the number of dice each player has (initially 5 each), the player's colour is displayed together with the dice thrown for him in this round. The player makes his bid by pressing the keypad numbers on the left (C clears any numbers already entered) to state the number of dice in the bid, and by pressing the face value involved in the bid on the right.

So, if the player wished to make a bid of 3x4s, he would press the 3 on the keypad and then press the die displaying 4 on the right. The number and face value are displayed in the fields below, while the complete bid and its bid value is displayed underneath these. Once the player is happy with the bid, he states the bid and its value out loud and presses the Bid button.

The next player's colour is then shown and the phone or other device is handed to that player, who presses Go ready to take his turn. The value of the current highest bid (last bid) is always visible in the white box at the top-right corner.

The next player has a choice of making a bid or of making a challenge, by pressing the Challenge button. Bids are made as above.

Invalid bids

Certain bids are invalid

  • A bid whose value is not greater than the current highest bid
  • A bid in which the number of dice in the bid exceeds the total number of dice still in the game.
The bidder is informed of problems with the bid in the field that also displays the value of the bid if it is valid.

Before bidding or challenging, the player may choose to see the last bids made by each player, by pressing Show Bids. The screen displayed presents the bids and associated values for each player who has made a bid. The Back button redisplays the bidding screen.

Challenges

When a player wishes to challenge the highest bid, he annouces this out loud and presses the Challenge button. A check is made by the system of every player's dice. The challenger is informed of the result of the challenge and who loses a die.

Pressing the Show all dice button displays the dice thrown for all players (pressing the Back button redisplays the challenge result screen). The phone or other device should be passed to all the players so that they can see the result.

Once all players have seen the throws, the challenger should press the Continue button on the challenge result screen. This states who the first bidder is in the next round. The number of dice each player still has remaining is shown in the coloured box for the player at the top of the screen.

New game

At the end of the game, when the winner is the only player left with any dice, or at any other time, the New button may be pressed, which again prompts you to specify the number of players.

Terms of use

This software may be used for personal purposes only.  It may not be used for commercial purposes.

The software, code and script of this application may not be copied or be distributed to others.

The software, code and script may not be altered in any way.

Copyright of the software, code and script, and its help documentation, is held by TopAccolades Limited.  No part of the software, code, script or documentation may be copied or used in another application or document.

Although every effort has been made to ensure that this software functions as intended, TopAccolades Limited provides no warranty of merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose, in relation to this application or its support.

TopAccolades Limited shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the use of or inability to use this application or the provision of or failure to provide support.

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www.topaccolades.com

Version: 3.0 (20170327)
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