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Cheat

The card game of barefaced lies

Put your cards down face-down, say what they are, and shout “Cheat!” when you don’t believe a word of it. First to get rid of their cards wins.

Learn how to play
Players

Called BS in America: play BS

Play Cheat online for free

Cheat is the card game most of us learnt round the kitchen table or on a long coach trip: the one where lying is not just allowed but expected. Play it here free in your browser, against computer players at a table of 3 to 6, or start a private game and send the link to your mates. No download, no app and no sign-up.

In America the same game is called BS, and older card books call it I Doubt It. The rules are the same whatever you call it.

How to play Cheat

  1. Deal the whole pack. Every card is dealt out, so with four players you hold 13 each.
  2. Aces first. The first player puts one to four cards face-down on the pile and says they are aces. The next player must claim 2s, then 3s, and so on up to kings, then back to aces.
  3. Tell the truth, or don’t. If you haven’t got the rank you need, put down something else and claim it anyway. Nobody sees your cards unless you are challenged.
  4. Shout “Cheat!”. After every claim the other players get a few seconds to call Cheat. The cards are turned over: if they were a lie, the cheat picks up the whole pile; if they were true, the accuser does.
  5. Win. The first player with no cards left wins, as long as their last claim stands up.

House rules and how this table plays

Plenty of British households play “same, one up or one down”, where you may claim the same rank as the last player or the one either side of it. This table plays the stricter version: the rank goes up by one every turn, so everyone knows what you have to claim and the bluffing is out in the open.

You may put down one to four cards at a time and the pack has no jokers. Tables seat 3 to 6, and the computer takes any empty seat. Your games count towards your BS stats on the leaderboard.

Tips for winning at Cheat

Tell the truth when you can: a true claim that gets challenged sends the pile to the accuser. Count the cards: if you hold three queens, nobody can honestly put down four. And bluff early, when the pile is small and getting caught costs little; save the risky lies for when you are close to going out.

The complete Cheat rules

Cheat is known as BS in America, so the full rules live on our BS rules page: dealing, claiming, calling, and how to play with 2, 3 or 4 players.

Read the full rules