Cockroach Poker Review – A Game Where Nobody Wins

Cockroach Poker, or the more playful German name Kakerlaken Poker, is a bluffing game centred on the most repulsive critters imaginable. In this game, you’re trying to offload rats, cockroaches, bats, flies, scorpions, spiders, stink bugs, and toads onto your friends as fast as you can.

How to play

Unlike most games where one player wins, in Cockroach Poker there’s only one loser: the first person to collect four cards of the same critter. Everyone else is a winner, or perhaps “non-loser” is the more accurate term?

Either way, you start the game with a hand full of gross creatures. The starting player picks a card and passes it face down to a victim of their choice, declaring what kind of critter it is. Of course, they can lie.

At that point—before even looking at the card—the receiving player has three options:

1. Believe the claim and say, “I believe you.”
2. Call the bluff and say, “I don’t believe you.”
3. Peek at the card, then pass it along to another player, making their own declaration (truthful or not).

If the receiving player chooses to believe or not believe without peeking, the card is revealed, and the outcome depends on whether the declaration was true:

• If the card matches the declaration:
  • If you believed, I take the card.
  • If you didn’t believe, you take the card.
• If the card doesn’t match the declaration:
  • If you believed, you take the card.
  • If you didn’t believe, I take the card.

Once the round is resolved, whoever ended up with the card starts the next round by playing a new card from their hand. Keep playing until one player collects enough cards to lose the game.

Lasting as long as lightning strike

The way Cockroach Poker effortlessly builds tension is a marvel. At first, nobody has any cards and everything is fine. Then, with each turn, a card is given out, and slowly, everyone inches closer to being the loser. The real pressure hits when you’re sweating and shaking, desperately trying to offload a card that would push you over the four-card limit.

But it’s not the climax that makes Cockroach Poker so much fun. It’s the short, sharp exchanges between players each round. That moment when you lock eyes with a friend as they, with perfect deadpan delivery, declare, “This is a bat.”

Unlike social deduction games like The Resistance, where you have to maintain a lie for an entire game, a bluff in Cockroach Poker lasts as long as a lightning strike. The stress of deception is over in an instant, making it much more palatable for those of us without a poker face.

What’s even better than the short, sharp bouts of deception is the second-hand lying that happens when someone picks up a card instead of making a guess. Now, multiple people know what the card actually is, and with each new declaration, the web of deception grows.

For the person on the receiving end, this creates absolute chaos. They now have multiple conflicting statements to consider, unsure of who (if anyone) is telling the truth. But for those who’ve already passed the card? It’s pure entertainment. Knowing exactly what’s going on—the lies, the bluffs, the desperate attempts at deception—makes for some of the funniest moments in board gaming.

Unfortunately, Cockroach Poker can wear out its welcome if played too often. While it delivers plenty of fun, the game sticks to a single note, and the more you play, the more it starts to feel like diminishing returns. That’s why I prefer its sibling, Cockroach Poker Royal, which adds just enough variety to keep things fresh round after round.

Tempering how you play

Like all bluffing games, Cockroach Poker has the potential to stir up emotions. Unsurprisingly, some people really don’t like being lied to, or being called a liar. (My wife is one of those people.)

Otherwise, the biggest issue with the game is the potential for players to gang up on someone. This can make things feel less like a fun bluffing contest and more like an outright bullying session. Those stress-inducing lightning strikes turn into a full-blown storm as one unlucky player is forced to guess again and again.

While this does give them a chance to fight their way out of a corner, it also kind of breaks the game. Since the player who ends up with a card starts the next round, some people might barely get a turn while the battle of bluffs rages elsewhere. More than once, I’ve found myself stepping in to keep things balanced and fun.

Fortunately, Cockroach Poker does its best to prevent things from getting too cutthroat. The playful artwork and the pick up and pass mechanic help take the edge off, ensuring that the game stays lighthearted. In my experience, it succeeds in turning a genre built on deception and betrayal into something genuinely fun and joyous.

For years, this game has been a staple in my collection. Whether I’m pulling off the perfect bluff or watching two friends desperately try to outwit each other, Cockroach Poker always delivers laughs. It’s a perfect reminder of why we love board games.