Impostor: a secret-role party game

What you need and how to set up a game

Impostor is for 3 to 10 players. All you need is one phone passed from hand to hand, or one phone each if you open a room. On the group screen you type in everyone’s names (the app remembers your last group and your last settings) and then adjust the options:

• Rounds: from 1 to 10, with 3 as the default. Everyone says one word per round, so six players and three rounds means 18 clues to listen to before the vote.
• Category: the default is Mixed, which draws from the whole deck. The single categories (Food, Objects, Places, Animals, Sport, Jobs, Technology and Nature) are part of Premium.
• Your own words: you can play with a word list you have written yourselves, adding an optional hint for the impostor to each word.
• Hint to the impostor: on by default. The impostor does not get the word but a related clue (for Ice cream, say, “Sweet”). The app recommends it when only a few of you are playing.
• Final vote: Group or Secret. This only applies when you play on one phone.
• Advanced variants: Classic, Jester or Two impostors (the last one needs at least 4 players).

From the secret card to the verdict: the complete rules

The phone goes round the table. Each player presses and holds to see their card, which disappears the moment they lift their finger, and then hands it on. Civilians see the secret word and its category. The impostor sees neither: only their role and, if the option is on, the hint.

Next the app shows the speaking order, drawn at random and the same in every round. On your turn you say one word or a very short clue out loud. There is no timer: when you have finished, whoever holds the phone taps to end the turn. Nobody is knocked out during the rounds.

After the last round there is a single vote. With the group vote you talk it over openly and agree on one suspect together. With the secret vote the phone goes round again: each player chooses in private (you cannot vote for yourself) and confirms. If there is a tie, there is a tie-break in which only the tied players can be voted for.

• If the group votes for someone who is not the impostor, the impostor wins.
• If the group votes for the impostor, they get a last chance: they say the word out loud and the others mark on the phone whether the guess was right or wrong.
• If they guess it, the impostor wins; otherwise the civilians win.

The Jester variant

As well as the impostor there is a jester, who sees the word just like the civilians but plays for themselves: the jester wins by being voted out in the final vote. If the vote lands on the jester the game ends there and then, with no last chance.

The Two impostors variant

There are two impostors, and neither knows who the other one is. The vote has to name two players: the civilians only win if they find both, and only if the impostors then fail to guess the word with their last chance. One wrong name and the impostors win.

A game of Impostor, step by step

Five players: Emma, Jack, Sophie, Tom and Grandma Jean. Two rounds, Mixed category, hint on, secret vote.

1. The phone goes round. Four people see Ice cream (category: Food). Tom finds out he is the impostor and gets the hint Sweet.
2. The speaking order is Sophie, Tom, Grandma Jean, Emma, Jack. Sophie opens with “cone”, and Tom, who speaks straight after her, breathes a quiet sigh of relief.
3. Putting “sweet” and “cone” together, Tom goes for “summer”. Grandma Jean: “tub”. Emma: “pistachio”. Jack: “shiver”.
4. Second round. Sophie says “flavours”, Tom tries “custard”, Grandma Jean “scoop”, Emma “wafer”, Jack “beach”.
5. Secret vote: Tom gets 3 votes and Jack 2 (nobody was convinced by his “shiver”). Tom has been caught.
6. Last chance: Tom thinks hard and says “Trifle”. The others mark the guess as wrong and the civilians win.

“Custard” was a reasonable shot at something sweet and creamy, but after “tub” and “flavours” it sounded like someone fishing for the answer: that is how impostors give themselves away.

One phone passed around, or a room with a code

With one phone everything happens at the table: you pass the device round for the roles and, if you choose it, for the secret vote; clues are spoken out loud and whoever holds the phone moves the turns on. It works without an internet connection too.

In a room everyone uses their own phone. The person who creates it is the host: the others join with the code or the QR code, and only the host chooses the variant, rounds, category and hint (everyone else sees a summary). In practice, this is what changes:

• Each player sees their role on their own screen and can check it again in private during the game by pressing and holding.
• On your turn you can type the word you said and send it with “Send word · End of turn”: the others will find it in the list of recent words. You can also just say it out loud.
• If someone is away or disconnected, the host can skip their turn.
• After the last round a discussion phase with chat opens; when you are ready, the host moves on to the vote.
• The vote is always secret and individual: there is no group vote. The host can close it even if someone has not voted yet; in a tie-break, the tied players do not vote.
• At the last chance the impostor types the word and the app checks it automatically, ignoring capitals and accents. If two impostors have been caught, it is enough for one of them to get it right.
• If the impostor leaves the room, the game cannot carry on.

Strategy for civilians, the impostor and the jester

As a civilian, your job is twofold: let the other civilians recognise you without giving the word away. “Cone” for Ice cream is a bit too direct in the first round; “shiver” is so vague it sounds like a bluff. The sweet spot is a detail only someone who knows the word would pick, such as “pistachio” or “wafer”. In later rounds, look for a fresh angle.

As the impostor, listen as much as you can before you speak. If you have to open the round, use the hint for a broad, believable word; later on, build on other people’s clues without copying them. Do not try to be brilliant, and keep the word you think is right ready in your head: the last chance can turn the whole game around.

As the jester, be slightly off-key and a touch hesitant, but never inconsistent: if you are rumbled too early, the civilians will see through the trick and vote elsewhere.

Mistakes you see all the time

• Saying the secret word or an obvious synonym: the impostor will thank you for it.
• Voting for the first person who gave a weak clue without talking it through: very often it is just a cautious civilian.
• Forgetting there is a jester in play and voting for the person who is showing off.

Which groups and occasions it suits

The technical minimum is 3 players, but the game is at its best with 5 to 8 people. In large groups the Two impostors variant makes the vote much tenser.

The words are everyday ones (food, animals, objects, places), so children who read confidently can join in too, perhaps teaming up with an adult the first time. It is ideal at the end of a meal: it needs no space and no equipment. If you enjoy questioning each other, try The Spy as well; the differences are explained in the guide comparing the two games.