DUBITO
DUBITO Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game's Components
- 40 dice in eight colors
- 8 dice cups
- 1 Rulebook
Setup
Each player chooses 1 color and gets 1 die cup and 5 dice. To decide who is the first player, all players roll 1 die; the highest roll is the first player. Re-roll ties, if needed.
The Game
At the start of every round, players simultaneously shuffle the dice they have in their dice cups. Then, they lay cups on the table, hiding the dice result from other players.
After all players saw dice results under their cups, the first player makes a call. Remember that Dubito's dice are special. On 5 faces they have a number from 2 to 6, while on the 6th face they have a spiral, which is a joker, and thereby allowed to represent other existing results.
To make a call the first player speaks with the next player clockwise. The player says how many dice of a particular number could be under all the cups on the table.
Example: Mario says to Anna, who sits at his left, "I think that under all cups there are at least 4 twos".
N.B. Players cannot start by calling for spirals unless they are Piombo (see Piombo).
Tips: Before a call, players have to keep two factors in mind: 1) The number of all dice in play. 2) Spirals that work as jokers.
After a call, the player who receives the call has two choices: Raise or Dubito.
Raise
There are two ways to raise:
- Players may raise by increasing just the number of dice. So, a call of "4 twos" can be followed by, say, "5 or more twos".
- Players may raise by increasing just the number on the dice. So, a call of "4 twos" can be followed by, say, "4 threes or more".
Moreover, players may shift to spirals. In that case, players may halve the last call's dice number. If the last call was odd, players can halve rounding up.
Example: Giuliana calls for 7 fives. Luigi, who sits at Giuliana's left, wants to shift to spirals. To do that, he has to call for 4 or more spirals.
Dubito
Since each call must be somehow higher than the last after a while high numbers come into play. If players feel that the number of dice called is enough when it is their turn to speak, they can call for "Dubito".
At this point, all players uncover their dice. Players sum up all the called dice to check if the call was correct. The player who is wrong looses 1 die.
N.B: Remember that spirals count as jokers.
Example: Federico calls for 10 threes. Stefano, who sits at Federico's left, calls for "Dubito". Then all players uncover their dice. Among all players there are 4 threes and 5 spirals, it means 9. Therefore, Federico is wrong and looses 1 die.
After that, players simultaneously shuffle the dice they have in their dice cups and a new round begins. The last player who lost 1 die is the new first player.
Lost Dice
Lost dice go into the box. When players lose their last dice, they are out of the game. In that case, the game goes on and a new round begins. The new first player is the one who sits at the left of the last eliminated player.
Spirals
Spirals are jokers except when a player is Piombo (see Piombo). It means that spirals are summed up every time players check if a call is correct or not. Once a player called for spirals, players who want to raise have two choices:
- Raise by increasing the spirals' number.
- Raise by shifting back to numbers. In that case, players have to double plus one the last call's spirals' number.
Example: Pino calls for 3 spirals. Angelica wants to raise by shifting to numbers. To do that, she has to call for 7 or more of any number (2-6).
Special Calls
Piombo
As soon as players remain with 1 dice left, they are called Piombo for the next round. During that round Piombo players, who also play as first players, make the first call. During the whole round, other players can't change the dice face's number. If they want to raise the call, they can only increase the number of dice.
Moreover, it's only the way in which first players may call for spirals from the start, and only in this case spirals do not count as jokers.
Each player can be Piombo just once for the whole game.
Optional Rule: Bussare
This rule allows players to regain lost dice. When a player makes a call, before that the next player answers, any other player can loudly say "Busso". Then, all players uncover their dice. If the number on all dice exactly matches with the call, that player regains one die. If not, that player loses 1 die. In both cases the player who try this play will be first player on the next round.
N.B. No players can have more than 5 dice.
Victory Condition
The player who has at least 1 die while all other players are without dice wins the game.