How to play the imposter game

What you need

Three or more players and one phone (or paper slips). One player sets up the game: the category, the number of imposters and the timer.

1. Deal the roles

Everyone secretly looks at their card. The civilians see the secret word. The imposter sees “Imposter”, the category and, if you like, a one-word hint.

2. Give clues

Going around the table, each player says one word or a short clue about the secret word. Civilians want to prove they know the word without giving it away; the imposter bluffs along.

3. Discuss and vote

When the timer ends, talk it through and vote for the player you think is the imposter. If you caught them, the civilians win the round.

4. The last chance

In Shifty, Mr. White gets one guess at the word when voted out. A correct guess steals the win.

Scoring

Civilians score 1 point for a win. An imposter who survives scores 2. Mr. White scores 3 for a correct guess.

Modes

Classic

One secret word for everyone except the imposters.

Undercover

The undercover player gets a close twin word, like coffee and tea, and doesn’t know they are the odd one out. Nobody knows who has which word.

Liar

Everyone answers the same question out loud, for example “How many hours do you sleep a night?” One player secretly answered a different question.

Chaos

Nobody knows how many imposters there are, sometimes none at all.

Tips

• Civilians: give clues that only make sense if you know the word, like a detail instead of the category.
• Imposters: listen first, then give a clue that fits the most answers so far.
• Keep the first clue vague; the table learns fast.
• Switch categories often. Hard Mode is for groups who know each other well.

Word lists → · Word pairs → · Questions →

Questions