Do you love Dobble? Chances are you do – it’s one of the most popular card games in the UK! But even if you’ve played a million rounds, we bet there’s lots about Dobble you don’t know! Why is it called Dobble? Where did the idea come from? And is it good for my brain? You’re about to find out! And why not try a quiz when you’re done – find out your Dobble play style! Or if you’d rather read more facts, we’ve got ’em too! Learn all about chess and UNO!

1. It’s French!

The game originates from nowhere else but La Belle France! French board game company Asmodee are the current license holders for all versions of the game.

2. It’s named after the word “Double”

“Dobble” isn’t a real word – it comes from the word “double” – because you have to find double symbols on your cards! “Double” is spelled the same in English and French, though it’s pronounced differently (say “doo-bleh” if you’re speaking French)!

3. It’s called something else in the US!

In the USA, Dobble was renamed Spot It! (the exclamation mark is part of the name)! There’s no clear reason why the game was renamed, but the US game is just as popular!

4. It’s super popular!

Dobble is a VERY popular card game – so popular, in fact, that in the UK it was THE number one game in 2018 AND 2019! It still regularly cracks the top three on bestselling card game lists – in fact, only UNO is consistently more popular!

5. It’s perfect to play on the go!

Dobble is not only extremely entertaining, it’s also perfectly portable! The small size of the card set means it’s great to take with you anywhere – pop it in a bag, or just in your pocket! Want to make a long car trip, a doctor’s waiting room, or a boring queue more lively? Bring out the Dobble!

6. It’s based on an old maths problem

In 1875, a British mathematician named Thomas Penyngton Kirkman proposed a problem he called “The Schoolgirl Problem.” The problem is this: “Fifteen young ladies in a school walk out three abreast for seven days in succession: it is required to arrange them daily so that no two shall walk twice abreast.” In other words: how many combinations can we arrange the girls into? This problem is based on something called “combinatorics”, which is a branch of logic that deals with object combinations. If you’ve ever played Sudoku, you already know how this works – you have to follow the rules to find a solution. It sounds complicated, but the principle is very simple: you have to pair unique items only once. Kirkman’s puzzle and its solutions can be used in a lot of ways – as game designers later realised!

7. It came out in 2009, but started development in 1976

A French maths enthusiast named Jacques Cottereau was especially interested in the Schoolgirl Problem. He realised that you didn’t need to use schoolgirls to make the problem – you can use any item, and you don’t have to limit yourself to fifteen! He invented a card game consisting of 31 cards, each with six insects printed on them, with one image shared between each pair of cards (sound familiar yet?). Cottereau never published his game, but years later a relative named Denis Blanchot found a few of the insect cards and decided to develop a game based on them. The rest is history!

8. It helps young children learn vocabulary

The gameplay is based around recognising pictures and saying what they are, so it makes sense that it’s a great way to ease kids into learning their vocab! Some editions of the game include words, which helps kids learn how to spell, too. It helps that it’s quite a short game, so there’s no way kids will get bored while playing!

9. In fact, children might be better at it than adults!

It’s a sad fact of life that as you get older, some of your cognitive functions (aka how your brain works) get slower. For this reason, kids are often better at the game than grown ups! Next time you play a round with your family, take note – who calls out quicker, you, your parents, or your grandparents?

10. There are 55 cards in the deck

Unlike Jacques Cottereau’s early version of the game, Dobble offers 55 cards per deck, with a total of 57 symbols. Mathematicians have had fun figuring out how to map the game using graphs and formulae, and if you’re feeling brainy you can look up what they’ve written about it! The deck COULD have a maximum of 57 cards, but it’s thought that it only has 55 because most standard playing card packs have 55 cards (52 playing cards, two jokers, and one advertisement).

11. Speed is key!

If you want to win a round of Dobble, you’ll have to be quick about it! The player who matches quickest has the upper hand in each round of the game, so the quicker you spot the matches, the better. Fans of the game say the best thing about it is the tension – who will score a win?

12. But it slows you down on purpose!

Part of Dobble’s fiendishly clever design is that you have to be fast, but you also have to think about your answer. Your brain has to look at the symbol, register what it is, compare it to the others, notice the similarities and differences, turn the thought into a word, and say the word out loud. That’s a long process, if you think about it!  If your opponents are moving faster than you your stress levels will increase, which can make your reactions slower!

13. It’s good for brains of all ages

The game helps young children learn and apply vocabulary, but they’re not the only ones who benefit from it! You might know that it’s a good idea to exercise your body regularly, but it’s also important to exercise your mind. Dobble is a good way to give your grey matter a workout – and it’s fun, at the same time! It can also be used to help adults when they’re learning a new language.

14. There are lots of versions of Dobble!

The good thing about Dobble is that you don’t have to stick to the same pictures all the time! This means that you can use pictures of just about anything to make the game work, and Dobble has joined with a lot of famous franchises to make special editions of the game. You can buy Dobble games based on Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Disney Princesses, Friends, Pixar, the Gruffalo, Super Mario – and SO much more!

15. Dobble is eco-friendly!

The makers of Dobble work hard on keeping the game as green as possible! Newer versions of the game use recyclable cardboard and have reduced the size of the card packaging, meaning that less cardboard is used in the first place. They’ve also removed almost all of the plastic from the package – an amazing 95% reduction! Zygomatic, the game producers, say that they save 94 tonnes of plastic and cardboard annually. That’s about the same weight as 16 African elephants!