Impostor

Players and equipment

Three to twelve, each with a phone. The word comes from a pack, so nobody at the table has seen it, and the app deals it to every phone but one.

The deal

When the game starts, every phone shows the same secret word except one, which says you are the impostor. Keep your phone to yourself: a word read over a shoulder is the game over.

Play

Going round the table from a starting seat that moves each game, every player says one word out loud about the secret word — close enough to show they know it, vague enough not to give it away to the impostor, who is listening for exactly that. A second time round if the table wants one.

Then everyone votes, in secret, for who they think the impostor is. You may not vote for yourself. The vote comes out when the last vote is in, or when the host reveals it.

Caught

If the impostor has the most votes they are out, and get one guess at the word. Right, and the impostor wins the game anyway; wrong, and the table wins.

Missed

If anybody else has the most votes, the impostor wins on the spot.

A tie

A tie for most votes is one revote between the players who tied. A tie again and the impostor wins, because the table could not find them.

Scoring

The table wins

1

A point to everyone but the impostor

The impostor wins

1

A point to the impostor

A game is one match. The leaderboard counts matches won: a win for the table is a win for every member of it, and the impostor's win is theirs alone.

A worked game

Six players; the word is "beach". Round the table: sand, sun, towel, waves, holiday, and from the impostor, who has heard five clues, "summer". The vote: four on the impostor, one on "summer"'s neighbour, one on "holiday". The impostor is out and guesses "sea". Wrong — the table wins, and five players take a point.

Ending

The match ends the moment the vote is decided, or the caught impostor has guessed. The next game deals a new word and a new impostor at once.

Giving a clue

Say something true that only somebody who knows the word would say, and nothing the impostor could echo. "Sand" for beach is good; "fun" is a gift. Go later in the order if you can and build on what has been said.

Being the impostor

Listen, then say something that fits every clue so far without committing to a thing. Vote with the room, not against the person who sounded most confident — and if you are caught, the guess is the clues added up: the word they all had in common.

Voting

Vote for the clue that fitted everything and nothing, not for the quiet player. A revote is a second chance to talk: say who you voted for and why before the second vote.

How do you play Impostor?

Everyone gets the same secret word except one player, the impostor. Each player says one word about it out loud, then everyone votes for who they think the impostor is. If the impostor is caught they get one guess at the word; if the table votes anybody else out, the impostor wins.

Can the impostor win?

Yes, two ways: by not being voted out, or by guessing the word once caught. A vote that ties twice also goes to the impostor.

What is One Word Unites?

The same game with the impostor given a near miss instead of nothing — "pool" when the table has "beach". The impostor does not know they are the impostor, and the table has to work out whose clues fit a different word. It is its own game here, with its own page.

How many players do you need?

Three at the least, and it is at its best from five to eight. The pack has enough words for an evening of games with no repeats.

Can you vote for yourself?

No. The app refuses it. A revote is only between the players who tied.

Can you play with two impostors?

At eight or more some tables deal two, who do not know each other. The app deals one; a second is the table's own rule, agreed out loud before the deal.

Can you go round twice before the vote?

Yes, and it makes the impostor's job harder and the game longer. Agree it before the first clue; the app does not count the clues.