Mia
| Type: | dice game, game of luck |
| Number of players: | any number (usually about 5-10) |
| Location: | sitting |
| Equipment: | two dice, cup (opaque), saucer (or coaster) |
| Duration: | arbitrary, usually longer |
| Preparation: | none |
Mia (or: Lying) is a dice game. You need luck to play it, however, a good player can nevertheless influence the game to his benefit.
Equipment
- two dice
- dice cup
- saucer (or coaster, or simple cardboard)
Procedure
Order of values
During the game, the dice are rolled, and the resulting numbers used. Both results are concatenated, resulting in a 2-digit number; in this number, the higher value is multiplied by ten and summed up with the lower value (so, when the result of the two dice is 1 and 6, the correct value is 61, while 16 is invalid).
The values are ordered according to the following rules:
- The highest value is 21, it's called the Mia.
- Then, all double-digit values follow in descending order, 66 down to 11.
- All other values follow in descending order of their value, from 65 down to 31.
So, the complete list of all values is (in ascending order):
- 31, 32, 41, 42, 43, 51, 52, 53, 54, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 21
(remember, all other numbers like 16 or 56 are invalid).
Procedure
The players are sitting in a circle. The first player rolls the dice in he cup (so they lie on the saucer). He looks at their values, announces the value, and passes the saucer with the dice on to the next player. This player can either believe the value that was expressed, or distrust the user.
- When he believes the player, He is the next to roll the dice and express the value. To make things complicated: His value must be higher than the value of the previous player.
- When he does not trust the player's value, he opens the cup. If the value expressed by the previous player was exactly or lower than the value shown by the dice, it is okay (so, one may underrate the value shown by the dice, but not overrate it). If the player lied (the value shown by the dice is lower than what he expressed), he earns a (negative) point; else, the player that distrusted him earns a point. After that, a new round starts (all values allowed again)
One additional rule applies to the Mia: it is worth two points; so if you lie in having a Mia, you get two points; or if you do not trust the previous player to have a Mia, you also earn two points.
Any player reaching a certain amount of points (like: 5 point) is out of the game.
Variations
There are dozens of variations of the rules, like:
- When, after rolling the dice and checking the value, a player is not satisfied with the value, he can roll the dice again and pass them on without looking. This raises his overall chances to reach a good score, but also of being accused (and exposed) to lie, of course.
- You can define that you need not overbid the value of the previous player, but can also express the same value as he did (still, the value may never drop unless a new round is started).
