How to play DOBBLE
Set up
Players
Dobble is a game for 2 to 8 players, from 6 years old.
What do you need to play
Dobble is a store-bought card game, so you’ll either need to get your own or borrow one from your sister, neighbor, friend, or cousin… Just don’t forget to bring it back in one piece 😉
Discover the Dobble deck
The cards in the Dobble deck are special cards designed specifically for this game. Let us introduce them to you.
Each card features 8 symbols. Altogether, there are 50 unique symbols spread across the 55 cards in the Dobble deck. Yes, the cards are round!
Every pair of cards shares exactly one matching symbol. No more, no less.. Yes, when they tell us this, we all think…. Are you sure? But it really is so, here is a sample.
The matching symbol looks the same in shape and color — only the size varies.
Before you start playing, try a quick practice: lay two cards face-up on the table. Search for the repeated symbol. The first player to spot it calls it out loud and draws two new cards, placing them face-up on the table. Replay the action until all players have understood the mechanics of the game.
Goal of the game
What do you need to do to win?
To win, score points by spotting matching icons on different cards as fast as you can.
DOUBLE rules: development of a game
5 rounds = 5 mini games
A game of DOUBLE consists of 5 rounds, one for each of the 5 mini-games that are part of the game.
1 – THE INFERNAL TOWER
SET UP
The cards are shuffled and one card is dealt face down to each player. The rest of the cards are placed in the center of the table face up forming THE INFERNAL TOWER.
LET’S START!
Everyone yells: Three, two one go! Then, all players flip their cards face-up. The first player to say aloud the symbol that joins the tower card with his own takes the tower card and places it face up on top of his own.
WE CONTINUE!
The tower card will have changed and again the fastest to identify the common symbol between his card and the tower card takes the card.
END AND WINNER
The game continues until there are no cards left in the tower. The winner is the player who has accumulated the most cards.
2 – EL FOSO
SET UP
All cards are dealt one at a time to all players except the last card, which is left in the center of the table face up and acts as a “well”. Each player forms a deck with his cards, which are still face down.
LET’S START!
Everyone yells: Three, two one Go! all players turn their deck face up. The first player to say aloud the symbol that joins the card in the pit with his card may leave his card face up in the well.
WE CONTINUE!
The well card will have changed and again the fastest to identify the common symbol between his card and the well card will be able to get rid of his card.
END AND LOSER
The game continues and players will gradually lose their cards. The last player to get rid of his cards is the loser.
3 – THE HOT POTATO
SET UP
This Dobble mini-game is played in several rounds. In each round, one card is placed face down on the table for each player. The others are set aside for the next rounds.
LET’S START!
Everyone yells: Three, two one Now! all players turn their card over and show it to the others on the palm of their hand, as if it were a tray, with their arm outstretched. If a player identifies the common symbol between his card and another player’s card he says the symbol aloud and places his card face up in the other player’s hand. The player who has no card no longer participates in that round.
WE CONTINUE!
The other players continue with the same logic. If the player who has two cards is the one who identifies the common symbol between the top card and the other player’s card, he will pass all his cards to the other player, not only the top card.
END OF ROUND
The player holding all the cards at the end of the round loses and keeps those cards nearby as penalty points.
NEXT ROUNDS
A new card is dealt to each player and the game is played again. After each round, the losing player keeps the cards.
END AND LOSER
You can do 5 rounds or continue until there are no cards left to deal to all players. At that moment, the cards accumulated by each player are counted and the player who has more cards loses the mini-game.
4 – ALL OUT
SET UP
This Dobble mini-game is played in several rounds. In each round a card is placed face up in the center of the table and around it face down as many cards as players, although this time the cards are common, there is not one for each player but everyone can play with all of them. The others are set aside for the next rounds.
LET’S START!
Everyone yells: Three, two one Go! each player turns over a card. The player who identifies a common symbol between the center card and any of the others, says the symbol aloud, takes the other one (the center card is not touched) and keeps it.
WE CONTINUE!
Gameplay continues with the same mechanics until there are no cards left.
END OF ROUND
Each player keeps the cards he has managed to identify by his side.
NEXT ROUNDS
The card that was in the center is placed at the end of the deck and new cards are placed on the table. The game is played as before and after each round each player accumulates the cards won.
END AND WINNER
The game ends when there are not enough cards in the deck to start a new round. The winner is the player who has accumulated the most cards.
5 – THE POISONED GIFT
SET UP
The cards are shuffled and one card is dealt face down to each player. The cards are shuffled and one card is dealt face down to each player.
LET’S START!
Everyone yells: Three, two one Now! each player turns his card but this time he does not look for the common symbol between his card and the one in the deck but between the cards of the other players and the one in the deck and if he finds it he says it out loud and he places the card in the deck to the player in question (a little gift… poisoned).
WE CONTINUE!
The deck card has changed and the same logic is followed, each player trying to place as many cards as possible on the other players.
END AND WINNER
The game ends when there are no cards left in the deck and the winning player is the one who has the fewest cards.
Game over – And the winner is…
End of game
The game ends after playing each mini-game once. But you are free to do more or less rounds of each of them. We encourage you to try them all and choose the ones you like the most in future games.
And the winner is…
The winner will be the player who wins the most mini-games.
Buying guide and tips
Dobble has been in the market since 2010. Its success has led the Zygomatic Games publisher, owned by the giant Asmodee, to create and release multiple versions.
What differentiates one version from the other is the type of symbol or drawing on the cards. The game mechanics are the same.
In addition to the classic Dobble there is a Dobble shapes and numbers for the youngest, from 3 years old, a Dobble for children, from 4 years old, a Dobble Pixar, with Pixar characters instead of symbols, a Dobble Star Wars, for lovers of the galactic saga, a Dobble Marvel Emoji, with emojis of Marvel characters, a Dobble Friends, Dobble Minions, a Dobble Harry Potter… and the family does not stop growing.
You will find this game in stores specialized in board games, although the best price and the best offers are usually on Amazon.
Full transparency: some of the products we recommend include affiliate links. If you buy through them, we get a small commission — at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Games like Dobble
Cheating Moth, like Dobble, is a unique and fun card game that focuses on player interaction. Don’t know it? Have you never played before? We encourage you to discover it.
