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The rules of Liar Liar.

Liar Liar, known in Romania as Trombon, is the liars’ game for 2–6 players with 54 cards (52 plus two jokers): you play cards face down and declare what they are — true or not. Only the player after you can call “Liar!” on you, and a wrong accusation costs them the whole pile.

House rules, checked against the engine that applies themupdated

Players
2–6
Length
15–25 min
Difficulty
Medium
Leaderboard
Yes
The complete rules 6 sections

How to play.

Lie convincingly and catch the others lying.

  1. 01

    The deal

    • Played with 54 cards: the full deck plus the two jokers. All are dealt out, as evenly as possible.
    • Nobody sees anybody else’s hand.
  2. 02

    The round

    • Whoever opens the round picks a rank and plays 1–3 cards face down, declaring that they are of that rank.
    • The next players also play 1–3 cards, claiming the same rank.
    • You CANNOT pass. If you don’t have the called rank, you lie — that’s the whole game.
  3. 03

    Jokers are wild

    • A joker is TRUE for any declared rank.
    • That means every round there are six cards that can honestly be what’s declared: the four of that rank, plus the two jokers.
    • This changes the accuser’s math completely: someone holding three kings can no longer be sure that two declared kings are a lie.
    • Jokers don’t count toward four of a kind — it takes four real cards of the same rank.
  4. 04

    Liar!

    • ONLY the very next player can call “Liar!” on the player before them, and only on their own turn, before doing anything else.
    • Nobody can jump in from the far end of the table to accuse a play from three turns ago. Whoever plays instead of challenging loses the chance.
    • The challenged cards stay on the table for a few seconds, face up, with the result of the round written next to them.
    • ONLY the last cards played are turned over. If the claim was false, the liar takes the pile; if it was true, the accuser takes it.
    • The next round is opened by whoever WON the challenge, not whoever took the cards: the player who called “Liar!” correctly, or the player wrongly accused. Otherwise a caught liar would pick the rank right after receiving an armful of cards.
  5. 05

    Four of a kind and winning

    • If you collect all four cards of a rank, you can put them down any time, face up. They leave the game for good.
    • 1st place goes to the first player out of cards — but not instantly: the last play can be challenged. A bluffer caught on their last card takes the whole pile back and stays in the game.
    • The match does NOT stop at the first player to finish. The others play on — three of them, then two — until only one player has cards in hand. Places go in the order players finished: first out takes 1st place, second out 2nd place, and the one left with cards finishes last.
  6. 06

    Thinking time

    • The host picks the pace when opening the table: 10 or 30 seconds per move, or no timer. While no match is running, the host can change it in the table settings. The timer is shown on the table.
    • At a table with a clock, if you run out of time you are ELIMINATED from the match: your cards leave the game and the others carry on without you.
    • The server doesn’t play for you. A player who has left the table but kept playing cards would hold the others in a match with no opponent.
    • Elimination is NOT a win. Whoever ran out of time is placed after everyone who played to the end, however close they were to finishing their cards — and if only one player is left with cards in hand, the match ends and places are given as they stand.

Rules differ from one place to another. The tables here play the version written above, so everyone plays by the same rules.

Do you play it differently?

The most common variants of Liar Liar, and what happens with each one at the tables here.

  • Anyone can call “Liar!”not played here

    The most common variant. NOT here: only the very next player, and only on their turn. Otherwise the game becomes a race of reflexes, not of reading your opponent.

  • The rank must go up with each playnot played here

    The English “Cheat” variant, where you declare 2, then 3, then 4. Here whoever opens the round picks the rank, and it stays the same until the round ends.

  • Jokers are taken out of the decknot played here

    Here they stay, and they’re wild: true for any declared rank. They’re the reason an accusation is never a sure thing.

  • Whoever takes the pile opens the roundnot played here

    Here it’s opened by whoever WON the challenge. Otherwise a caught liar would pick the rank right after receiving an armful of cards — rewarded, in other words, for getting caught.

  • Four of a kind goes down and leaves the gameplayed here

    Played here too, any time, face up. Jokers don’t count toward it.

Once you know the rules

How to play better.

  1. Lie early, on big cards

    At the start of a round nobody has a reason to check you: everyone has a full hand and loses a lot on a wrong accusation. That’s the moment to get rid of the cards you can’t use.

  2. Two jokers mean six true cards

    A joker is true for any declared rank. So every round there are six cards that can honestly be what’s declared, not four. Anyone holding three kings who thinks they’re certain is wrong — there are still two jokers somewhere.

  3. Only the next player can call you out

    Not the rest of the table. That changes everything: you watch one person, the one on your left, and read what they’ve done so far. The rest of the table is an audience, not a judge.

  4. Play cards and you lose the accusation

    You can accuse only on your own turn, before doing anything else. Once you’ve played cards, the chance is gone. Decide before you touch your hand, not after.

  5. Three cards at once is a statement in itself

    Nobody holds three of a rank very often. A play of three is either four of a kind in the making or a big lie. Both are worth remembering for the next round.

  6. Four of a kind leaves the game, not just your hand

    Four cards of the same rank go down face up, any time. That’s four cards you get rid of without risking an accusation — and the safest way to get closer to the end.

  7. Your last card can be challenged

    You don’t win the moment you play your last card. If you bluffed and get caught, you take the whole pile back. Finish on the truth if you can.

In depth: How to lie convincingly at Liar Liar.

Before you play

Questions about Liar Liar.

How many players can play Liar Liar?
Between 2 and 6. The seats are chosen when the table opens, and any left empty can be taken by bots.
How many cards do you start with in Liar Liar?
The whole deck is dealt out evenly. With 2 players, each gets 27 cards.
How long does a match of Liar Liar take?
About 15–25 min. The host sets the pace: 10 or 30 seconds per move, or no timer at all.
Can I play Liar Liar against the computer?
Yes. The host can seat bots in the empty seats, at two skill levels. But the moment the first bot sits down, the table drops off the leaderboard: a bot has no rating to put at stake.
Do Liar Liar matches count toward the leaderboard?
Yes, as long as everyone at the table is human. Each game has its own leaderboard, with an Elo-style rating that starts at 1000.
Do I need an account to play Liar Liar?
To sit at a table, yes. The rules above, the catalog and the leaderboards can be read without one, and you can watch an open table from the sidelines.
Does it cost anything to play Liar Liar here?
No. The site is free: no subscriptions, no in-game payments and no playing for money. The account is free too.
Liar Liar · the table is open

Now you know the rules.

Create a table and play — no account needed.

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