Play Time: 20 Min / Players: 2-6 / Complexity: Low / Age: 8+ / Publisher: Drei Magier Speile / Designer: Jacques Zeimet
Cockroach Poker Ratings and Summary
Summary
Kids rating from our daughters (7 &10).
Teen rating from our son (14).
Kids view: Feels like people are picked on a lot in this game, it isn’t fun.
Teen view: A bit of fun and a laugh but not really much strategy here.
Parent view: Better suited to people who are thick skinned. Not likely to work well for younger players.
Pros
- Simple and quick filler game anyone can learn in a few minutes
- Promotes a lot of interaction to keep everyone involved
- Affordable and compact
- For the right group this will be an amusing and fun game.
Cons
- Very group dependent and younger players won’t like the fact that players will be picked on here
- Not much more than bluffing in Cockroach Poker, so if you don’t like bluffing games, you aren’t likely to like this game.
What You Will Find in Our Cockroach Poker Review
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When you have a family with young kids, games need to be simple, fun, not too long to play and engaging enough for the older players as well. This can be quite a tall order and there are few games that tick the box in each of those categories. One short game that seems to keep popping up in forums is the bluffing game Cockroach Poker designed by Jacques Zeimet. Fans would mention how fun it was picking on people around the table and out bluffing friends, so it seemed to be quite popular.
At first the thought of a bug themed bluffing game didn’t appeal to me, but my curiosity got the better of me. I noticed the game was super cheap, so I bought a copy to try with the family. I wasn’t sure how the creepy crawly bug theme would go down, but I was hoping they would look past it. On paper Cockroach Poker could be the perfect cheap family filler game, find out if we discovered a new favourite in our in-depth Cockroach Poker review.
Overview: Bluff and pick on the weakest player to win Cockroach Poker
Objective
There is only one loser in Cockroach Poker each game, everyone else wins. If you fancy ganging up on the weakest link, this game is for you. Any player that collects four of the same type of bug in front of them or runs out of cards loses while the rest of the players all chuckle at their expense.
Set Up
There are 64 cards in cockroach poker with 8 different types of creepy critters, spiders, rats, toads, stink bugs, bats, scorpions, flies, and off course cock roaches. They are all brightly coloured and each has a slightly different cute variation of the creature illustrated on the card. Some may appreciate the cute artwork; others may shudder with revulsion while they pick up their cards. I have gotten used to my wife muttering ‘disgusting’ under her breath at regular intervals throughout a game, while I snigger.
Turns
Cockroach Poker is an incredibly simple game, there really isn’t that much to the rules, the knack is all in your ability to bluff effectively and read the other players around the table.
To start all 64 cards are dealt out face down evenly to each player. In a two-player game a dummy hand is dealt. Now you’re ready to pick up your hand of critters and use them to crush your opponents.
The game starts with one player picking a card from their hand and sliding it face down to another player. They will then state what the card is, for example “this is a stink bug”. The player can lie or tell the truth it’s their call.
The player receiving the card now has two options, they can either declare whether they think the other player is telling the truth or lying, or they can pass the card on to another player. Let’s see how this might work in practice:
Me “this is a spider, come on you know it is, would I lie to you?”, son “I think you’re a terrible liar dad and you know it”. If the card isn’t a spider and he guessed correctly then I would take the card and place it face up in front of me, otherwise it would go face up in front of the player who guessed incorrectly. If you get four of the same creatures face up in front of you, you’re out.
If my son had on the other hand decided not to guess but pass, then he would look at the card and slide it to another player, maybe one of his sisters. He might say “I hate to admit it, but dad was telling the truth this time, definitely a spider”. Now he could be bluffing or maybe not, but the other player now has the same options of guessing or passing. The catch is you can’t pass to someone who has already seen the card, so eventually the card is going to have to stop somewhere, and someone will have to guess. This process will continue until someone eventually loses and the game ends.
This is predominantly a bluffing game, if that’s not your thing then Cockroach Poker is unlikely to appeal or change your mind.
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What’s the Difference Between Cockroach Poker and Cockroach Poker Royal?
There is a version of Cockroach Poker you can buy called Cockroach Poker Royal which gives you the option of some additional rules and some different cards. The key differences are outlined below.
- Card icons are not depicted on the back of the Cockroach Poker Royal cards, they are in the original as a prompt
- Spiders are replaced with creatures that are called royals in Cockroach Poker Royal. Royals count as the creature they have pictured on the card and also count as a royal card type. There is a penalty deck set up and if you receive a royal during the game you also get a penalty card
- You can still play the basic version of Cockroach Poker with Cockroach Poker Royal, it would just exclude spiders
- There is a card that counts as no creature and one that counts as every creature in Cockroach Poker Royal. These have special rules when you receive them.
Gameplay: This game can be brutal despite the amusing cards
Cockroach Poker is an incredibly simple game. There really is hardly anything to the rules. Only two simple choices to make, that’s it. So, it ticks the simplicity box for families. Because the cards don’t have any text and are just pictures of bugs kids of just about any age will likely grasp the rule set within minutes.
The other great thing about Cockroach Poker is that it is highly interactive, the attraction of this game has a lot to do with the conversation and laughs that it generates. For example, ‘You say that’s a stink bug? It probably is because I have three here in front of me already, you’re trying to finish me off right? You probably know I would be wise to that, so it isn’t. You have played two stink bugs already… it can’t be a stink bug. Ok no way that’s a stink bug.’ As the card is slowly revealed…cue smug look on your opponent’s face “enjoy your stink bug, it’s the last card you’ll get this game…stink bug for the win!”
This may seem overly simple, and you might ask ‘where’s the game here?’. Well as the game progresses you will have more information to work with. As cards start piling face up in front of players, you will start to get a handle on how many of each card have been accounted for and what remains in your hand. If 5 toads for example are sitting face up in front of players and you have two of the remaining three, then you might have an advantage if someone claims to be playing a toad. So, there is some logic that can be applied to decisions aside from being alert to someone’s manner when they are lying.
So far it sounds pretty good right? Well not quite. I really enjoy bluffing games and the gentle ribbing from friends when you are being targeted is not an issue for me, but… it’s a different story when you have young kids. My daughters (7 and 10) really don’t enjoy this game, it can be cutthroat and although their bluffing has improved it’s very intense for them when players are targeting someone. I think this could be an issue for a lot of young kids with a game like this. My wife also isn’t a fan either. My teen is on the fence here, we get it out on occasion and have a few laughs, but it isn’t our go to filler game.
The other thing I have noticed is it tends to generate quite a few arguments with people feeling like they have been frequently targeted by their siblings. Unfortunately, targeting players who are close to losing is a key element of the strategy in this game, so tends to be unavoidable.
Does this make Cockroach Poker a bad game? I don’t think so, like other bluffing and deduction games the audience is key due to the player interaction being such a big factor. I could see this game being great for older teens or adult friends who know each other well enough that they don’t mind copping a bit of grief during the game. For younger kids or people who are a little more averse to being picked on, I think this won’t appeal.
Components: 64 cards worth of cheeky looking creepy critters
The clever part of Cockroach Poker is its simplicity. The cards are basically just pictures of creepy critters without any text, so anyone can play within minutes.
The cards themselves are nice, shiny, bright and of good quality. Each card has a slightly different picture of the pest its depicting which is a nice touch. It’s also handy to have all the symbols for each creature on the back of the cards as a prompt.
Final Thoughts: Good for people with a thick skin but likely to be too cutthroat for younger players
Would I recommend Cockroach Poker for families? Not if they have young kids. Would I play it myself with mates? Absolutely. Audience is key with this game, if you have an audience that has thick skin and enjoys giving each other a little grief then Cockroach Poker is likely to work well.
Is Cockroach Poker easy to learn? Yes, very easy to learn, there is hardly anything to the rules and people will grasp it within minutes.
What will Cockroach Poker teach my kids? Like other bluffing games it will teach your kids to ‘read’ peoples expressions to try to catch them out in a lie. Unfortunately, it will also give them practice in how to lie convincingly.
What age is appropriate for Cockroach Poker? This is a tough question, when it comes to understanding the rules, I think kids as young as 6 would be fine as there is no complexity there. However, it is a very cutthroat game and usually involves a beat up on one player near the end, for that reason we think it’s better suited to teens and up, probably 13+.
Does Cockroach Poker have good replay value? This is a light filler game, and the fun comes from the player interaction. With the right group I think it will have a lot of replay value. It is very group dependant, and we don’t recommend it for families with young kids.
We hope you enjoyed our Cockroach Poker review. If you have any more questions or just want to share your thoughts on this game please leave a comment below, or get in touch through our contact page.
About the Authors
We are parents who love board gaming. We have three children and have been enjoying board games as a family ever since we had our first child. We share our real unbiased experiences and opinions on board games so you can decide if they are right for your family. We also write guides and articles to help you get the most out of your family game time. If you enjoy our content and want to support us you can do that through our Ko-fi page by clicking on the button below.
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