How to play
Everyone has four discs: three lily pads and one turtle. Only you know which of yours is which.
Each round starts with everyone putting one disc face down in front of them at the same time. Then, in turn, you either put another disc on top of your stack or start the bidding. A bid is how many discs you’ll turn over without finding a turtle, up to every disc on the table.
Once someone bids, the others in turn raise or pass; once you pass, you’re out of the bidding for the round. When everyone else has passed, the top bidder starts turning discs over: first their whole own stack, then the top discs of anyone else’s stacks, one at a time, in any order they like.
Turn over enough lily pads and you score a point; two points wins. Find a turtle and you lose one of your discs at random, and nobody else sees which. Lose all four and you’re out; if everyone else is out, you win. Whoever owns the turtle you found starts the next round.
Tips
Your own stack comes first, so with your turtle down you can only bluff: bid low and hope someone raises past you. Players who start or raise the bidding usually have no turtle in their stack, so their discs are the safest to flip. Late in the game, a player one point from winning is worth stopping, even at a risk.