How to Play Pyramid

Description

Cards flip one by one up the pyramid. If you claim a match, you can hand someone a forfeit — but if you're bluffing and get caught, you take a double forfeit. The higher up the pyramid, the higher the stakes.

Also known as: Beeramid

Objective

Push forfeits onto other players by matching cards flipped from the pyramid — or by bluffing convincingly enough that nobody dares call you on it.

Setup

Build a pyramid of cards face down — five at the base, narrowing by one card per row up to a single card at the top.

Deal the rest of the deck out evenly among the players, who look at their own cards without showing anyone.

Agree as a table what a forfeit means before you start.

Rules

Flip the first card of the bottom row and announce its rank.

Anyone holding a matching card can assign a forfeit to another player.

The assigned player either takes it, or calls the bluff — if the claim was real, the caller takes double; if it was a bluff, the bluffer takes double instead.

Each row is worth its own number: the bottom row is a single forfeit, then ×2, ×3, ×4, and ×5 at the top. A called bluff always doubles whatever the row is worth.

Winning

There is no winner — the game ends once the whole pyramid has been revealed, with the top card carrying the highest stakes.

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