Lady Gaga has been teaching people around the world to work on their poker faces since 2008. But now there’s a game to help do the same without popping too many “p’s” in the process.

Bid, Bluff & Buy, from E3 Publishing, is a game designed for kids ages 13 and up that recreates auctions that teaches how to manage cash and how to bluff. This game combines the strategy of money handling like Monopoly but adds the fun pop culture tidbits of Trivial Pursuit.

Each player and the auctioneer start off with $30,000 and they make their way through the auction, bidding on items along the way. All the items, or lots, included in the game were once sold at a real auction. You can pretend to bid for one of Michael Jackson’s famous gloves or a putter once used by Arnold Palmer before his refreshing iced tea and lemonade mix took the world by storm.

There are five different categories of auction items for players to choose from: music, movies, television, sports, and history. There are four auctions to choose from once a category is selected, with each auction having 10 lots.

For players who want to practice their Gilmore speech pace, I suggest taking the role of the auctioneer. Of course it doesn’t require you to sound like a really fast-talking auctioneer like we all know and love, but why would you pass up that opportunity?

As for the other players, they can play as individuals or teams. Once an item is named before auction, each player or team decides before whether they want the item or not and put a card reflecting their decision face down in front of them.

And then the fun part begins. Since no one else knows who actually wants the item and who is just bluffing during the auction, things can get rather interesting. If you’re like me and want to troll your way through the game, bluff as often as possible. Of course I bid for the stuff that I really would like to have (gimme dat Eric Clapton signed guitar, plz), but it’s fun to jack up the price without too much of a gamble. For those who are fun loving risk takers, and aren’t afraid to lose fake money, go after each and every item your heart desires.

Once a winner is declared, everyone flips his or her card over. If the winner didn’t really want the item, they just pay for it for the price they bid and then the next item is up. If the winner did want the item, they get a $2,500 bonus (!) from the auctioneer. For all those who wanted the item and lost, they must pay the auctioneer $2,500 (sadface).

Whoever has the most money at the end, whether it’s the auctioneer or a bidder, wins. This is determined by the value of the items bought, as well as the money each player has leftover.

The whole point of the game is to bluff your way through to get other to overpay for their items, whether they want it or not. And unlike on eBay when you jack up the price during the auction without any intention of buying it, you can’t be kicked out of this game!

About the author

Kristen Nelson

Kristen Nelson

Kristen Nelson is an assistant editor at Adventure Publishing Group. She does weekly toy reviews for The Toy Insider and contributes to the trade magazines The Toy Book and The Licensing Book. She is an expert in Penn State sports, as well as with numerous cooking techniques. Kristen has been crowned the Queen of Potatoes, but her friends call her Lady Spud. When not yelling at the TV during football or hockey games, she is often binge-watching virtually any cooking show. You can delve into her witty mind and follow her on Twitter @Krypton_87.

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