Game Rules — Meyer

The classic Danish/Norwegian dice bluffing game, for 2–6 players.

Setup

• 2 dice, 2 cups, 2–6 players sitting in a circle.
• Each player starts with 6 points, shown as a dice icon.
• Losing a round costs 1 point.

Dice Ranking

Always read the dice with the highest number first.

How a Turn Works

1. Roll: Shake the dice under the cup, then secretly peek at the result.
2. Claim: Announce a combination — truthfully or as a bluff.
3. Pass: Pass the cup to the next player without revealing the dice.
4. Decide: The next player chooses:
   • Believe → Accept the claim, shake again, and announce a strictly higher combination — matching the claim is not enough, it must be beaten. The one exception: a claimed Meyer cannot be believed — the cup must be lifted.
   • Lift → Lift the cup to reveal the true dice values.

Resolving a Lift

• Claim was true → the player who lifted loses a point.
• Claim was a bluff → the bluffer loses a point.

The loser of the round starts the next roll.

End of Game

• The game ends when a player reaches 0 points — that player loses.
• There is no single winner. You play to determine who loses first!

Announcing Rolls: the Language of Meyer

Every roll of two dice is read as a two-digit number with the higher die first: a 4 and a 6 is “64”, never “46”. That convention is what makes the ranking table above work. The special rolls have names you will hear at any Scandinavian table: 21 is “Meyer”, the unbeatable roll, and 31 is “Little Meyer” (Danish: Lille Meyer), second only to Meyer itself. Doubles are announced as “a pair of fives” or simply “55”. When you claim a roll, you say the number out loud before passing the cup — in MeyerLive3D you pick the claim from the claim board, and your live camera feed carries your poker face to the other players.

The Heart of the Game: Bluffing

Meyer is not a dice game with bluffing bolted on; it is a bluffing game that happens to use dice. Because each claim must beat the previous one — strictly higher, never a repeat — the claims in a round form a rising ladder. Sooner or later somebody stands on a rung their dice cannot support — the only questions are who, and whether the next player dares to lift the cup. Three practical consequences follow:

• A truthful claim is not always safe. If you truthfully announce a high roll, the next player may lift anyway — and lose a point for doubting you. Truth is a weapon too.
• A bluff is not always a lie about having more. Claiming lower than you actually rolled (“under-claiming”) keeps the ladder low and gives the players after you room to move — sometimes you want the round to keep going.
• The pass is information. How quickly a player claims, and what they claim after a peek, tells you as much as the number itself. This is why MeyerLive3D keeps live face cams on every player: the game is played on faces as much as on dice.

A Worked Round

1. Anna rolls, peeks, and sees 53. She announces “53” (the truth) and passes to Ben.
2. Ben believes her, rolls, and sees 32 — the worst roll in the game. He cannot truthfully beat 53, so he bluffs: “62”. He passes to Clara.
3. Clara must now either believe (roll and beat 62) or lift. She studies Ben's face and lifts the cup: the dice show 32. Ben's claim was a bluff — Ben loses one point and starts the next round.
4. Had the dice shown 62 or better, Clara would have lost the point instead — the price of doubting an honest player.

Odds Worth Knowing

With two dice there are 36 equally likely outcomes, collapsing into 21 distinct rolls when order is ignored. Meyer (21) comes up 2 times in 36 — about once every 18 rolls — and Little Meyer (31) the same. Each double has only 1 chance in 36. A useful rule of thumb: the chance of rolling better than a mid-table claim like 54 is under a third, so a player who calmly raises past 54 is either lucky, lying, or wants you to think one of the two. Counting how many rungs of the ladder remain above the current claim is the closest thing Meyer has to card counting — and it is entirely legal.

Common House Variants

• Blind Meyer: a player may pass the cup on without peeking, repeating the previous claim “blind”. Nerves of steel required; house rules differ on whether a blind pass must raise the claim.
• Double penalty on Meyer: if the cup is lifted and reveals a genuine Meyer (21), the lifter loses 2 points instead of 1.
• Roll-off starts: instead of choosing a starter, everyone rolls openly and the lowest roll starts (and is already on the back foot).

MeyerLive3D plays the classic rule set described on this page; variants are listed so table players feel at home with how the online rules were chosen.

Playing Online at MeyerLive3D

• Create a room from the welcome screen — no download, it runs in the browser on desktop, tablet, or phone.
• Invite friends with the room code: they type it in (or follow your link) and join in seconds, as guests or registered players.
• Live video: every player's camera appears around the table, so a bluff has to survive eye contact just like at a kitchen table.
• 3D dice and cups: the roll, the secret peek, and the lift are all played out in real-time 3D — only the roller sees the dice until the cup is lifted.