How to Play Delulu
Watch the 4 minute video, or read the full rules below.
Video Rulebook
4 minGoal of the Game
- All players get 4 cards (5 cards in the 2–3 player variant).
- Players take turns trying to lower their score.
- When you think you have the lowest sum, you call "DELULU".
- The player with the lowest score wins.
Card Values
Cards go from A to M. A = −1 (the best), then B = 2, C = 3… all the way up to M = 13. Lower is better.
Tip: an A is gold. It actually lowers your total.
Setup
There are 2 decks: the Delulu deck is your main draw deck, and the Disrupt deck is kept on the side.
Shuffle & Deal
Shuffle the Delulu deck and deal 4 cards face down to each player. The rest becomes the face-down draw deck.
Assemble
Place your 4 cards face down in a 2×2 grid, DELULU text facing you. Don't look at them yet.
Secretly Look
Secretly look at your bottom 2 cards, memorise the letters, and place them back face down. You can only look once.
Card Positions
Card positions cannot be changed for the rest of the game.
On Your Turn
The youngest player starts; play continues clockwise. On your turn, draw a card from the Delulu deck, look at it, then choose one:
Swap
Keep the drawn card by swapping it with any 1 card in your grid. Throw the swapped card face up onto the discard pile. Swapped cards have no power.
Discard
Don't want it? Throw the drawn card face up onto the discard pile. Your turn ends here.
Play a Power
If the drawn card has a power, throw it face up and follow its instructions: see other players' cards, swap, and more.
Quick Throw (any time)
First Throw Wins
Only the first person to correctly throw a matching card gets to discard. Anyone who throws later takes their card back.
Wrong Throw Penalty
Throw a card that doesn't match the top card's letter? Take it back and draw 1 extra card into your grid without looking.
Power Cards
Certain letters carry powers, but only when thrown directly from the draw deck. Swapped cards never keep their power.
See Your Own Card
See any one of your own cards and keep it back in the same position.
See Someone Else's Card
Peek at another player's card and keep it back in the same position.
Skip Someone's Turn
Skip a player. If they forget they were skipped, they draw a card as a penalty and add it to their grid without looking.
Disrupt
Pick up a card from the Disrupt deck, read it out loud, and do what it says.
Unseen Swap
Swap any one of your cards with another player's card, without looking, if you want to.
Seen Swap
See one of your cards and one of another player's cards, then swap the two if you want to.
The Disrupt Deck
The Disrupt deck holds 40 unique powers. The chaos engine of the game.
- Shuffle the Disrupt deck once at the start of the game. Don't shuffle it again in later rounds.
- Play the letter K card to pick up a Disrupt card, read it out loud, and do what it says.
- After a Disrupt power is played, place the card at the bottom of the Disrupt deck, unless the card says otherwise.
- If you're left with no cards, you can't take a regular turn. On your turn you may either draw a Disrupt card or call DELULU.
Calling Delulu & Scoring
Delulu caller scoring
✅ Correct Caller
You called it and you do have the lowest sum.
❌ Wrong Caller
You called it but you're not lowest (or you're tied).
Next Round
Shuffle all cards and deal 4 new cards to each player. The player to the left of the previous starter begins.
Game Ends
Round scores add to your cumulative total. The game ends when any player hits 50 points (or your chosen limit). Then the lowest total wins!
Inside the Box
Delulu Deck
68 cards, 5 of each letter A to M (except K, which has 8).
Disrupt Deck
40 cards, 40 unique chaos powers.
Plus
1 postcard of unsolicited advice, because of course.
Don't Do Math
Use the free Delulu Scorekeeper to track everyone's scores after each round. No counting required.
May your scores be low and your confidence delusionally high.