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Spyfall

Everyone is somewhere together and knows their job there — except the spy, who has no idea where they are and must work it out before the group works them out.

Set up the round

Two spies works from about eight players up. They don't know each other.
Show the location list during play The spy needs somewhere to guess from. Turn off for a harder game.

Related

How to play Spyfall

  1. Pass one phone around. Everyone except the spy sees the same location and their own role in it — bartender, engineer, visiting relative.
  2. The spy's card says only that they are the spy. They do not know the location.
  3. Someone asks another player a question about where they are. That player answers, then asks someone else. Keep going.
  4. Questions must be answerable by anyone who knows the location, and answers must not name it. "What's the smell like here?" is good. "Which gate is your flight from?" gives the game away.
  5. At any point the spy may stop the round and name the location. Correct and the spy wins; wrong and the group wins.
  6. When the timer ends, everyone points at once. If the group identifies the spy, the group wins.

Playing as the spy

Your first few answers are the dangerous ones. Keep them vague enough to survive and specific enough to sound like you belong — "a bit too warm in here" fits almost anywhere. Listen for words that only fit one place, then narrow. The strongest spies ask questions rather than answering them, because a question reveals nothing while forcing everyone else to leak detail.

Playing against the spy

The usual mistake is being so cautious that everybody looks suspicious. If every answer is "it's fine, normal, like usual," nobody learns anything and you lose on the vote. Give answers that prove you know where you are without handing it over — reference your role, not the place. A nurse can say "I've been on my feet since six" without saying hospital.

How many players?

Four is the minimum and it's tense. Six to eight is the sweet spot — enough people for real questioning, few enough that everyone gets a turn before the timer. Above nine, add a second spy or the spy hides too easily in the crowd.

The location list

There are 24 locations here, each with seven roles, written for this version. Keeping the list visible is the standard way to play: it gives the spy a realistic chance of guessing and gives everyone else something to reason against. Hiding it makes the spy's job much harder, which suits groups who already know the locations by heart.

Is anything stored?

No. The round is generated in your browser and your settings stay on this device. Nothing is uploaded, and once the page has loaded it works with the wifi off.