How to play the imposter game
- Sit in a circle with one phone. Three players works, five to eight is better.
- Set the number of players and pick a category, then start the round.
- Pass the phone round. Each person taps to see their card privately, then passes it on. Everyone sees the same secret word — except the imposter, who is told they are the imposter.
- Going clockwise, everyone says one word or one short clue about the secret word. Clues must be true. The imposter has to invent one convincing enough to pass.
- Discuss, argue, accuse. Then everyone points at once.
- If the group catches the imposter, the group wins. If the imposter survives — or guesses the secret word outright — the imposter wins.
The rules that make it work
Clues have to be honest. The imposter is allowed to lie, but nobody else is, and that asymmetry is the whole game. A clue should be specific enough to prove you know the word, but vague enough that the imposter cannot simply work it out — say "cold" rather than "it has a freezer compartment". Players who give away the word in round one ruin it for everybody, and players who are too vague look guilty. That tension is the point.
Choosing good words
The best words are ordinary things with several obvious associations. "Umbrella" works because there are a dozen true things to say about it. "Quantum tunnelling" does not, because only one person will have anything to say and that person is instantly identifiable. Equally, a word that is too broad — "thing", "life" — makes the imposter's job trivially easy. The ten categories here are built around that balance, with Hard mode holding abstract words for groups who already know the game.
Playing with three people
It works, but it is a different game: with one imposter among three, suspicion lands fast and bluffing is harder. Give clues in two full rounds rather than one before voting, so there is enough to go on. From five players up the standard single round is plenty.
Two imposters
From about seven players, a single imposter has too easy a time hiding. Two changes the texture completely — each imposter does not know who the other is, so they can end up accusing each other, which is usually the funniest outcome of the night.
Is anything stored?
No. The round is generated in your browser, your settings are remembered on this device only, and nothing is sent anywhere. Once the page has loaded you can turn the wifi off and keep playing, which is why it works in a restaurant with bad signal.