Perudo Bidding Track: A Simple Visual Aid for Better Games
Perudo is wonderfully simple once you know it: roll your dice, keep them hidden, make increasingly ambitious bids and decide when somebody is bluffing.
But when you’re learning the game, there is one part that can cause more confusion than it probably should: keeping track of the bidding.
Was the last bid five 4s, or four 5s? Can you move from six 3s to three 1s? How many dice are still in play?
A Perudo bidding track gives everyone at the table a simple visual reference, making it easier to follow the game without taking away any of the bluffing, probability or psychology that makes Perudo so much fun.
What Is a Perudo Bidding Track?
A Perudo bidding track is a visual player aid that helps show the progression of bids during a game of Perudo, also known as Liar’s Dice.
Instead of relying entirely on memory, players can use the track to see the current bid and understand which bids are available next.
This can be particularly useful when introducing new players to Perudo, but it is equally handy during fast, competitive games where bids can change quickly.
The aim isn’t to automate the game or tell players what to do.
It simply makes the current state of play clearer.
Why Use a Bidding Track in Perudo?
Experienced Perudo players can usually remember the current bid without much difficulty.
For newer players, however, there can be several things to think about at once:
- remembering the current bid;
- understanding which bids are legal;
- working out how many dice remain in play;
- estimating probabilities;
- watching other players for signs of a bluff;
- deciding whether to raise the bid or call Dudo.
That’s quite a lot to keep in your head.
A visual bidding aid removes some of that mental housekeeping, leaving you free to concentrate on the interesting part of the game: strategy and bluffing.
Keeping the Current Bid Clear
One surprisingly common source of confusion is simply remembering exactly what was bid.
For example:
“Five sixes”
and
”six fives”
are very different bids, but they can easily be confused when several players are bidding quickly around the table.
Using a bidding track gives everyone one shared point of reference.
That can make games smoother and reduce interruptions such as:
“Hang on — what was the last bid again?”
Making Perudo Easier to Teach
A bidding track can be especially useful when you’re introducing Perudo to somebody for the first time.
Rather than explaining every possible bidding jump verbally, you can use the track as a visual reference while you play.
New players can see how bids increase and begin to understand the rhythm of the game naturally.
That means less time explaining rules and more time actually playing.
Understanding Ones and Wild Dice
One of the trickier parts of Perudo for beginners is the treatment of ones, which normally act as wild dice outside Palafico rounds.
Moving between a normal bid and a bid on ones involves a different relationship from simply increasing the quantity or face value.
That can feel unintuitive the first few times you play.
A well-designed Perudo bidding aid makes these transitions easier to understand by giving players something visual to refer to rather than expecting them to remember the rule every time.
Once you’ve played a few rounds, it quickly becomes second nature.
Keeping Track of Dice Remaining
Knowing how many dice remain around the table is an important part of Perudo strategy.
At the start of a game there may be twenty, twenty-five or thirty dice in play.
Later, there might be fewer than ten.
A bid that sounds perfectly reasonable early in the game can become extremely ambitious once several players have lost dice.
That’s why the SwoopLoop Perudo Game Mat also provides a way to keep track of the number of dice each player has remaining.
It gives everyone a quick visual picture of the game state without having to repeatedly count around the table.
Does a Bidding Track Make Perudo Easier?
It makes Perudo easier to follow, but it doesn’t make the actual decisions any easier.
You still need to decide:
- whether the previous player is bluffing;
- how likely the bid is to be true;
- whether to raise;
- whether to use information from your own dice;
- whether an opponent’s behaviour is giving anything away;
- when to call Dudo.
The skill of Perudo remains exactly where it should be: reading the table and deciding how far you’re prepared to push your luck.
The bidding track simply removes unnecessary confusion.
Bidding Track vs Traditional Perudo
You absolutely don’t need a mat or board to play Perudo.
Dice, cups and a table are enough.
For experienced groups who have played together for years, that may be exactly how they prefer to play.
A bidding track becomes particularly useful when:
- teaching new players;
- playing with larger groups;
- playing in a noisy pub or party environment;
- playing several rounds in an evening;
- players have different levels of experience;
- you want a clear record of the current bid;
- you want to keep track of everybody’s remaining dice.
It’s therefore best thought of as a player aid, rather than an essential component.
Why I Designed the SwoopLoop Perudo Game Mat
I created the SwoopLoop Perudo Game Mat after playing the game and recognising that such a simple game could still generate unnecessary confusion around bids and game state.
The idea was to create one central place where players could see the information they need while still keeping the game quick, social and competitive.
The mat combines a Perudo bidding track, player status information and a playing surface designed specifically for the game.
It’s also made to roll up for storage, so it can be kept with your existing Perudo set rather than becoming another large board-game accessory taking up cupboard space.
Is It Only for Perudo?
Perudo belongs to the wider family of games commonly known as Liar’s Dice.
Different Liar’s Dice variants can use slightly different bidding rules, so it’s always worth checking the rules for the particular version you’re playing.
The SwoopLoop mat is designed primarily around the familiar Perudo-style rules and bidding system.
A Small Addition That Makes Games Smoother
A Perudo bidding track doesn’t change what makes Perudo such a great game.
There are still hidden dice.
There are still improbable bids.
There are still suspicious looks across the table.
And somebody will still confidently call Dudo at exactly the wrong moment.
The difference is that everyone can clearly see where the game currently stands.
For beginners, that makes Perudo easier to learn.
For regular players, it can make games quicker and smoother.
And for everyone at the table, it means spending less time remembering the last bid and more time working out whether your friends are lying.
Try the SwoopLoop Perudo Game Mat
If you’d like a bidding track, player aid and game mat designed specifically for Perudo and Liar’s Dice, take a look at the SwoopLoop Perudo Game Mat.
Buy the Perudo Game Mat on Etsy
Or explore more Perudo guides and strategy articles here on SwoopLoop.