How to Play

You are a detective in an intelligence service. It has recently been discovered that there is a spy within your department. The entire department has gathered, and by asking each other questions, they try to identify the spy.

01 Requirements

  • 3 to 12 players
  • All players must be in the same room

02 Objectives

Spy

Guess the game's word by inferring from others' questions and answers.

Civilians

Identify and eliminate the spy (or spies) through voting.

03 Game Flow

Timer

Each round lasts 3-12 minutes. Shorter for smaller groups, longer for larger groups.

Cards

Everyone sees the same word except the spy. The spy does not know the word.

Questions

One player asks another a question (e.g., "Green or red?"). The person answers and then asks someone else. You cannot ask back the person who just asked you.

04 Accusing the Spy

At any point, a player can initiate a vote to eliminate someone suspected of being the spy.

The vote passes if the number of YES votes equals the number of civilians.

Each player can only initiate one accusation per game - use it wisely!

If the eliminated player was the last spy, civilians win. If they were a civilian, spies win.

05 Spy Guessing the Word

A spy can reveal themselves at any time and guess the word.

If correct, the spy team wins! If incorrect, the spy is eliminated.

06 Game Ends When

  • A civilian or the last spy is eliminated through voting
  • A spy reveals and guesses the word
  • Time runs out

07 Scoring

Spy Team Wins

  • 2 points per spy if no one is eliminated
  • 4 points per spy if a civilian is eliminated
  • 4 points per spy if the word is correctly guessed

Civilians Win

  • 1 point per civilian
  • +2 bonus for the civilian who initiated the successful vote

08 Multiple Rounds

Play as many rounds as you like. Scores accumulate across rounds. The player with the highest total score at the end is the overall winner!