subject: Cachito - The Original Perudo History And Rules [print this page] Before Liar Dice, before Bluff, there was Cachito. The original Perudo from Peru. Like all board games worth their dollar, Cachito has a history beyond commercial sales at Christmas.
Here is a brief look at how it came to the west and the rules of Cachito as it is played in Peru today.
History
In the year 1530 A.D. the magnificent Inca civilisation was at its peak and Emperor Altualpa ruled his nine million subjects from the fabled city of Cuzco. But soon the Spanish Conquistadors would arrive capturing both city and king.
During his imprisonment King Altualpa is said to have taught the Spanish a favourite Inca pastime. Cachito is the original Perudo, a pastime still enjoyed in many Peruvian and Bolivian cafe's while waiting for the meal to be served.
Game Rules
Cachito is a bidding and bluffing game where the bids get higher until someone calls 'Dudo' (Spanish for "I Doubt"). If the total dice in play are not what you say they are and someone calls 'Dudo' then you lose one dice. If they are what you claim them to be, then they lose dice. The last person with dice wins.
Each player starts the game with five dice which are thrown down with the cup covering them. Each player only every sees their own dice during a round but bids on how many total dice of all the players he thinks will show a certain number.
The first player must make a bid and the next player to their left must either raise the bid or call. If they raise, then the next player in order must decide either to also raise the bid or call with play continuing until someone calls.
Players can raise a bid in one of four ways: by raising the number of total dice in the bid, or the number on the dice, a combination of the two or return to aces (the one's on the dice are called "Aces" and count as anything the player wants.
For example:
With a starting bid of 3-3s (the claim being that under all cups there are at least three dice showing a three or Aces or a combination), The next player could raise the bid to 4-3s (or more)...
...or they could go up to fours, fives or sixes. (the minimum call being one less each time they go up.
Therefore, 3-3's could be followed by 2-4's, 1-5 or 1-6. 6-2's could be followed by 5-3's, 4-4's, etc.
As long as the bid goes up either by number of dice or the bid on a higher dice, the bid is legal. You can raise the bid by a little or a lot and do not have to bid numbers that you hold as bluffing is a part of the game as is remembering how many dice are left and what the other players have been calling.
Aces
The alternative bid is to call "Aces". Here a player can go back to 1's (Aces) by halving the last number called and rounding up.
So, 4-4's can become a minimum 2-aces. 3-6's can become 2 Aces also (the three being halved and rounded up). This is a particularly shrewd move if your wanting to get the play back to more manageable levels for your hand. In order to move out of Aces, the next player to the left will either raise the number of Aces, or if they wish to move back into 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6's, they must double the last call and add one.
So, 2 aces becomes 5 of anything as the new starting point. If you think the player to your right has placed an incorrect bid, you can call Dudo. All dice are then revealed, aces included in the last bid.
If there are an equal number or more dice than the player bid the challenger loses one of their dice. If there are less dice than the person bid then they lose one of their dice. Round starts over with the player who lost a die in the previous round going first. The game ends when one player still has dice left.
Palifico
When players lose their fourth die and have only one die remaining, they declare a 'Palafico' which means there are three special rules for just the next round:
1. Aces are not wild
2. The player who is Palafico starts the round, and may do so by bidding aces or anything else they like.
3. All the other players must increase the bid by raising the quantity of the dice number that began the round (6's, or 3's, for example must remain the call for this entire round) or by calling 'Dudo'.
This means that players must bid the same number as that bid by the Palafico player; they may not change the number.
Winning Cachito
The last player left with one or more dice is the winner of the game.
