Coyote Review: Bluff, Peek, and Outsmart Your Friends

The Coyote has invented a clever little bluffing game, in order to win his friends’ possessions. So prepare to use your wits to outsmart him!

Published by HeidelBÄR Games, Coyote is a 20-minute card game designed for 3-6 players.

Gameplay

At the start of each game, each player is given three peek cards. Two of them are placed open-side-up, and the third one is placed closed-side-up.

Each round, every player is dealt a card, which they do not look at. Each card has a value ranging from -10 to 20. Each player puts his card in a card holder, so that all the other players may see its number but he cannot. One card is also placed face-down in the center of the table. The start player then announces a guess as to the combined value of all the players’ cards, plus the card that is in the center of the table. He is, of course, allowed to bluff on the number he announces. It is now the next player’s turn. He may either announce a higher number that he believes is the combined value, or challenge the previous number. Play continues, with players choosing to either raise the guessed value or to challenge the previous number given.

At the start of a player’s turn, he may flip one of his open-eye peek cards to its closed side, in order to look at the number on the card in the center of the table. However, if he does this, he must raise the guess — he cannot challenge the previous number.

Once a player challenges the previous number, all cards are revealed and their values totaled. If the total is less than the challenged number, the challenger wins; otherwise, he loses and the player who was challenged wins. The winner gets to turn over one of his peek cards from closed to open, and the loser must discard one of his peek cards. He will also be the start player for the next round. If a player discards his last peek card, he is out of the game.

There are two special cards in the deck. The question mark, when it is revealed during a challenge, is discarded and replaced with a new card from the deck. The Max 0 card forces the highest numbered card in play to equal zero when calculating the total.

The game ends once all but one player has been eliminated — the remaining player is the winner.

Review

Coyote feels like a card version of Liar’s Dice, except you can see everyone else’s dice except your own. It’s a very intuitive game to teach — you could even remove the special cards initially if you want to simplify the game the first time or two you play.

Of course, there is luck involved — you might have a -10 and have no idea, but that’s also where trying to read the other players comes into play. You also have the strategy of choosing when to use your peek cards based on where you are in turn order and how high the guessed number has already been raised to. There are a lot of little, fun elements to take into consideration on your turn.

While the game is listed as being for 3-6 players, we wouldn’t recommend playing with more than four, since turns aren’t equal as the first player keeps shifting. It’s even possible at the higher player counts that you might not get a turn at all during a round. The player elimination aspect also could drag out downtime at higher player counts.

The artwork is lovely and unique. The quality of the cards and the gold foil on the cards is so beautiful. If you want to travel with the game, you can also easily play this one without the card holders and pack fewer components.

Coyote is a solid mixture of bluffing and trying to deduce the odds. It’s fun, it’s lightweight, and it’s easy to teach. We had a nice time with this — and, since you don’t have to hold anything while playing, it’s actually a perfect fit for playing over dinner.

Pros: Simple rules, fun elements to consider on your turn, good player interaction

Cons: Player elimination, not recommended at higher player counts

Disclosure: we received a complimentary review copy of this game.