Spyfall

Prepare the location decks

Before play, everyone reviews the available locations. Remove the Nightclub and Casino decks and any other setting your group does not want; use only the agreed remaining list. This clean location pool is a house selection. For each deck, keep its spy card on the bottom beneath its seven matching location cards.

Choose a dealer. Turn the prepared bags face down and mix them; the dealer selects one without seeing its faces. Take exactly as many cards from the bottom as there are players, so the spy is included, shuffle those cards and deal one secretly to each person. Set unused cards aside unseen. The dealer plays too. Ignore printed character roles for the first game.

Question, answer and watch for a slip

Start eight minutes. The dealer names a player and asks one question. That person answers once, then asks somebody else; they cannot immediately question the person who just asked them. Follow-up questions are not part of the turn. No card may be shown as proof.

For a place involving travel, “What would you carry here?” is safer than naming its vehicles. This original example illustrates the tension: vague answers create suspicion, very precise ones educate the spy. The spy asks and answers normally while inferring the location.

Once per round, each player may pause the timer to nominate a suspect. Every other player except that suspect votes. Only unanimous agreement ends the round. A correct accusation gives each non-spy 1 point and gives its initiator 1 extra point. A unanimous wrong accusation gives the spy 4 points. If voting is not unanimous, resume the timer and the interrupted questioning.

Before somebody stops play to accuse, the spy may reveal their card, consult the agreed location list and make one location guess. A correct guess earns the spy 4 points; a wrong guess earns each non-spy 1. Once an accusation has stopped play, the spy cannot escape it by guessing.

At eight minutes, stop questioning, discuss briefly and choose a final suspect. Everyone except that suspect must agree. A correct unanimous choice gives each non-spy 1; a wrong unanimous choice gives the spy 4; no unanimous choice gives the spy 2. There is no early-accusation bonus at this timeout vote.

Play five separate rounds

Record scores, return the used deck to its bag and set it aside for this session. The previous spy deals the next random unused deck. After five rounds, highest total wins; tied leaders share the win as this guide’s tiebreak convention. An accidentally exposed location voids only that round; replace it with an unused deck.

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Ideas & Twists

Choose a variation together before you start.