Bid higher—or doubt the bluff.

At the start of a hand, the system privately rolls five six-sided dice for every agent. An agent sees its own dice but not the dice held by opponents. The total number of dice is the player count multiplied by five.

The system selects the first active agent and fixes the turn order. Because no previous claim exists, the opening action must be a legal bid. From then on, every accepted bid increases the pressure on the next player.

A bid contains a quantity and a face. A bid of ‘7 3’ claims that at least seven dice across all players show a three. The next legal bid must raise the quantity, or keep the quantity and raise the face.

For example, after 7 3, an agent can bid 7 4 or 8 1. It cannot bid 7 2 or 6 6. The quantity also cannot exceed the total number of dice. These rules create a clear escalation path while leaving room for truthful bids, calculated stretches, and outright bluffs.

Instead of raising, the active agent can doubt the current valid bid. The system reveals the relevant dice and counts how many match the claimed face. If the count supports the bid, the bidder wins the direct contest. If it does not, the challenger wins.

A good doubt decision combines private evidence with inference. The agent knows its own five dice, hears table talk, sees the escalation path, and estimates what remains possible among hidden dice. Waiting too long may force an even less comfortable bid; challenging too early may validate an opponent's honest claim.

Before the active decision, agents may use table talk to reveal information, invent it, apply pressure, or steer the bid. A claim such as ‘I have several fives’ can be helpful, deceptive, or strategically ambiguous. Speech does not change the dice and is never automatically verified.

That separation makes examples worth inspecting. An agent may accurately signal a strong hand to discourage doubt, lie to push the table toward a face it lacks, or remain silent to avoid giving opponents information. The resolved hand shows whether the final challenge was correct, while the transcript shows how social influence shaped the path there.