Top 135 · #24 of 29 in Party
Dobble
55 cards built so that whichever two you pick share exactly one symbol, and the game is to be first to call out the shared symbol. It takes less than a minute to explain and pulls children and adults in alike, which has made it a party game everybody knows.
Rules
Any two cards you pick share exactly one symbol. Finding that one symbol before anybody else is the whole game, and the rulebook builds five mini-games on top of that single idea.
What is Dobble?
There are 55 cards, each showing 8 symbols, drawn from 50 symbols in all. And whichever two cards you pick, they share exactly one symbol.
If somebody is playing for the first time
This is what the rulebook recommends. Draw any two cards, lay them face up, and look for the shared symbol. Whoever finds it first names it out loud and draws two new cards. Repeat until everybody feels that any two cards share exactly one symbol.
In case of doubt
Whoever named the symbol first wins. If two players spoke at the same time, whoever took, placed, or discarded their card first wins.
Mini-game 1 — The Towering Inferno
- Set-up: shuffle the cards, place one face down in front of each player, and make a draw pile with the rest, placed face up in the middle of the table.
- Object: gain the most cards from the draw pile.
- How to play: on go, everyone flips their card face up. Whoever is first to spot and name the symbol shared by their own card and the top card of the draw pile takes that card and places it on top of their own. A new card is revealed underneath.
- End: the game stops once the draw pile is gone. The player who gained the most cards wins.
Mini-game 2 — The Well
- Set-up: starting with the winner of the last mini-game, deal all the cards out one at a time. Put the last card face up in the middle. Each player shuffles their own cards into a face-down pile in front of them.
- Object: get rid of your cards fastest — above all, do not be the last one.
- How to play: on go, everyone flips their pile face up. Name the symbol shared by the top card of your pile and the card in the middle, then place your card on it. The middle card changes every time somebody plays one, so you have to keep looking again.
- End: the last player still holding cards loses.
Mini-game 3 — The Hot Potato
- Set-up: each round, everyone takes one card and holds it without looking at it. Set the rest aside for later rounds.
- Object: pass your card on faster than anyone else.
- How to play: on go, everyone reveals their card. Holding it flat on an open palm so all the symbols show works best. When you spot the symbol shared by your card and an opponent's, name it and place your card on theirs. That opponent now has to find the symbol shared between this new card and the remaining players' cards, and if they manage it, they pass their whole stack on at once.
- End: whoever ends up with all the cards loses the round and stacks them in front of themselves. Play at least 5 rounds; the mini-game stops when there are no cards left to hand out. The player with the biggest stack loses.
Mini-game 4 — Gotta Catch Them All!
- Set-up: each round, put one card face up in the middle and lay as many face-down cards as there are players around it. Set the rest aside for later rounds.
- Object: gain more cards than the other players.
- How to play: on go, everyone flips one of the surrounding cards at the same time. Whoever is first to spot and name a symbol shared by the middle card and one of the revealed cards takes that surrounding card. Never take the middle card.
- End: once all the surrounding cards are gone, put the middle card at the bottom of the draw pile and start a new round. When there are no cards left to draw, the mini-game stops and the player with the most cards wins.
Mini-game 5 — The Poisoned Gift
- Set-up: the same as The Towering Inferno. One card face down in front of each player, a face-up draw pile in the middle.
- Object: gain the fewest cards. This is the mini-game with the rules turned around.
- How to play: on go, everyone flips their card. Spot and name the symbol shared by another player's card and the card in the draw pile, then take the middle card and place it on top of that player's card.
- End: the game stops once the draw pile is gone. The player with the fewest cards wins.
Tournament scoring (official rules)
A way to chain several mini-games together and compare totals. Start with The Towering Inferno, and the loser chooses the next mini-game.
| Mini-game | Points |
|---|---|
| The Towering Inferno | +1 per card gained · +5 to the player who gained the most |
| The Well | +10 to the first player out · −20 to the last one |
| The Poisoned Gift | +20 to the player with the fewest cards · +10 to the second fewest |
| The Hot Potato | −5 per round lost |
| Gotta Catch Them All | +1 per card gained |
Breaking ties
If players are tied when a mini-game ends, they duel: each draws a card, both reveal at the same time, and whoever names the shared symbol first wins. With three or more tied players, play one round of «The Hot Potato» instead.
If you are not running a tournament, the winner is simply whoever won the most mini-games.
Commonly confused rules
Q. Is there really always exactly one shared symbol?
Yes. Any two cards have exactly one. If you found two, you misread one of them. Different sizes still count as the same symbol as long as the shape and color match.
Q. Do I have to name the symbol exactly?
No. The rulebook itself lists several names for a single symbol. A cat can be «cat» or «kitty» — anything the others understand is fine.
Q. What if two of us shout at the same time?
Whoever spoke first wins. If it really was simultaneous, whoever moved their card first wins.
Q. In «Gotta Catch Them All!», may I take the middle card?
Never. The middle card is only the reference; the cards you take are the ones around it.
Q. In «The Poisoned Gift», do I compare against my own card?
No. You compare another player's card with the middle card, and the point is to push a card onto that player.
Q. Do the mini-games have to be played in order?
No. Play them in order, pick at random, or keep playing the same one. Just read the rules of the chosen mini-game to everybody before starting.
History and editions
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Development | Jean-François Andreani and Toussaint Benedetti (Play Factory) |
| First released | 2009, in France |
| North American name | «Spot It!» |
| Current publisher | Zygomatic / Asmodee |
There is mathematics hidden in it
The property that any two cards share exactly one element comes from the structure of a finite projective plane. With 8 symbols per card, 57 cards are possible in theory, but the actual product holds only 55. Two cards are missing and the rule still holds.
Because of that property, a great many rethemed versions have appeared — Kids, Harry Potter, Marvel, animals, the alphabet, and more. Cards from different editions must not be mixed, so it helps to keep the boxes apart.
Sources
Official Zygomatic / Asmodee rulebook (Dobble, English)Wiki cross-check — Wikipedia: DobbleWiki cross-check — Namuwiki: DobbleRule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us in the comments below →
Last updated 2026-09-14
💡 Master tip
Agree on names for the symbols beforehand — arguing over whether something is a clown or a jester is the most common dispute. Whoever memorizes the 8 symbols on their own card first and then scans the other card is faster.
Ready for something heavier
If this one has gotten too easy, try these — same feel, one step up in weight.
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