How to play

The idea

Spybluff is a party game of lies and locations for 3 to 10 players. Everyone gets a secret dossier with the same location, except the spy. The spy only sees a red stamp and has to blend in.

Agents want to find the spy without giving the location away. The spy wants to survive the interrogation or work out where everyone is.

The whole game runs in the browser. Nobody installs anything or signs up: one person opens a case, the others join with a short room code or a link, and each player uses their own phone or computer as a private dossier.

Setting up a case

One player opens a case and shares the room code. The host picks the mode, the theme (Spies, City, Vacation, Showbiz, History, Space, Nature, Ukraine, School, Crime, Work, Sport, Food or a custom one), the number of spies and the game length. When everyone is in, the host starts the case.

Each player opens their dossier: the theme, the location and, if cover roles are enabled, a personal role at that location. The spy sees only the theme. Nobody knows who the spy is, and with several spies they do not know each other either.

Everyone has up to a minute to read the dossier and press ready. The interrogation starts as soon as all players are ready or the minute is over.

Interrogation

Players take turns asking each other questions out loud. The person on the spotlight taps Ask on someone, asks and hears the answer, then taps End turn. The person who answered asks next. You can never ask back the person who just asked you. If someone stalls, the host can skip their turn.

Ask so that another agent recognizes the place, but the spy cannot. Answer so you prove you know the location without naming it. Too vague looks suspicious, too precise hands the spy the answer.

In circle order the questions go around the table in a fixed sequence, so there is no Ask button: you see who to question and simply end your turn when you are done.

In elimination mode the host can also set a time limit per question: 20, 30, 45 or 60 seconds, or none at all. When the limit runs out, the turn moves on by itself, so a player who freezes cannot hold up the whole table.

Accusations

Any player can stop the game once per case and accuse someone. Everyone except the suspect votes. The verdict needs a unanimous "guilty". A single "not guilty", or a vote that is not finished within 45 seconds, clears the suspect.

In classic mode, convicting an innocent means the spy wins, and catching the spy means the agents win. A "not guilty" verdict simply resumes the interrogation.

Because every player has only one accusation per case, it is worth saving. An accusation that fails still costs you your chance, and it tells the spy exactly who is suspicious of whom.

Reveal yourself

Every player has a "Reveal yourself" button so nobody can tell who pressed it. If you are not the spy, you just see a reminder that you are an agent.

If you are the spy, the game pauses for everyone and you type your guess of the location. Minor typos are fine. Guess right and the spies win. Guess wrong and you are out, and if no spies remain, the agents win.

The spy has one minute to type the guess, and running out of time counts as a wrong guess. The spy can reveal during the interrogation, the discussion and even during the final vote, which makes the last seconds of a case tense for everyone.

Classic mode

One shared timer of 5, 7 or 10 minutes. When it runs out, everyone votes for the most suspicious player, and the plurality decides. If the spy gets the most votes, the agents win. Otherwise the spy wins.

A tie in the final vote also goes to the spy: the agents had to agree on one name and did not. The final vote lasts one minute.

Elimination mode

The case is played in 3, 4 or 5 circles of questions. Questions can have a time limit or none at all. After every circle there is a free discussion of 30, 60 or 90 seconds where everyone can speak up. The host can skip it.

A guilty verdict eliminates the suspect, spy or not, and the game continues. Agents win when no spies are left. Spies win when there are as many of them as there are agents. After the last circle the final vote decides the case.

A circle is over when every player still in the case has asked one question. Eliminated players stay in the room and can watch, but they no longer ask, answer or vote.

Several spies

With enough players the host can add a second or a third spy: two spies need at least 5 players, three spies need at least 7. The spies do not know each other, so one spy can easily suspect the other and even vote against them.

Any spy can reveal themselves and guess the location. A correct guess wins the case for all the spies. A wrong guess only removes the spy who guessed, and the case goes on while other spies remain. In the same way, convicting one of several spies removes that spy, and the agents win only when the last one is caught. The final vote is different: if any spy gets the most votes, the agents win the case.

Points

If the spies win, each spy gets 2 points, and the spy who named the location gets 2 more.

If the agents win, each agent gets 1 point, and the player whose accusation caught the spy gets 1 more.

A game can be endless, go to 5, 10 or 15 points, or last a set number of cases (3, 5 or 10). At the end the podium shows the best agents.

The host can pick the location

After choosing a theme, the host may pick the exact location instead of leaving it to chance. The host then knows the location, so the host is never the spy in that case, and everyone sees a note about it. The pick is used for one case only.

Leaving and coming back

If you press Leave the case in the middle of a case, your seat waits for you for 30 seconds: open the case link again and you are back. After that the game goes on without you. If the last remaining spy leaves or fewer than three players remain, the case closes without points.

If someone’s connection drops, they keep their seat: reopening the link brings them back. While they are offline, their turn is skipped after 15 seconds.

Custom themes

The host can add up to 5 custom themes with 1 to 30 locations each: your office, your favorite bars, places only your friends know. Custom themes work like the built-in ones, without roles.

Choose places that everyone at the table has actually been to. A custom theme works best when the locations are different enough to be told apart, but share enough that a careless question does not give the answer away at once.

A sample round

Five friends play classic mode with the Vacation theme: Anna, Max, Oleh, Sofia and Ivan. The location is Beach, and Ivan is the spy. He only knows that it is somewhere from the Vacation theme.

Anna starts and asks Max: "What would you complain about here?" Max answers: "Other people’s music." A good answer. Anyone who knows the location nods, and the spy learns almost nothing, because loud neighbors exist at a campsite, a hostel or a festival too.

Max asks Oleh: "How did you dress this morning?" Oleh smiles: "As little as possible." That is a little too generous. Ivan now suspects somewhere hot and relaxed: a beach, a water park or a spa.

Oleh turns to Ivan: "Would you bring your grandmother here?" Ivan cannot know, so he plays it safe: "Only if she is in a good mood." It fits almost any place, but it sounds a bit empty, and Anna makes a mental note.

Ivan cannot ask Oleh back, so he picks Sofia and asks a safe, open question: "What is the loudest thing around here?" Sofia answers without thinking: "Seagulls and the waves." That is the mistake of the round. Seagulls plus light clothes point straight at the sea.

Anna is sure it is Ivan and reaches for the accusation, but Ivan is faster. He presses Reveal yourself, types "beach" and wins the case. He gets 2 points for the win and 2 more for naming the location.

The lesson: Max’s answer was ideal, Oleh’s was risky, and Sofia’s gave the case away. Ivan did everything a good spy should: he answered vaguely, asked open questions and listened.

Tips for agents

Ask about details that only someone who is actually at the location would know how to answer: the smell, the noise, what people wear, what you are not allowed to do there. Avoid questions whose answer names the place directly.

Listen to the answers of others more than you think about your own. The spy usually gives answers that fit any location in the theme. An answer that is always true is itself a clue.

If you use cover roles, answer from your role. A croupier and a high roller see the same casino in different ways, and that difference makes your answer sound genuine without revealing more.

Do not hurry with the accusation. You have only one per case, and a mistake in classic mode ends the case in the spy’s favour. Wait until at least two people have noticed the same strange answer.

Tips for the spy

At the start, look at the theme and remember which locations belong to it. Every answer you hear crosses a few of them off your mental list.

Answer with emotion rather than facts: "I would not come here alone", "It depends on the day", "Too many people for my taste". Such answers fit most places and still sound personal.

Ask open questions that force the agent to describe something: what they hear, what they would change, what they would take home. Questions with a yes or no answer give you almost nothing.

Do not guess too early. A wrong guess takes you out of the case. But do not wait too long either: during an accusation vote the button is unavailable, so when you feel suspicion gathering around you, guess before someone accuses you.

Around one table or over a video call

At one table everyone opens the room on their own phone, and the questions are asked out loud. Keep your screen turned away from your neighbors, and do not put the phone face up on the table.

Over a video call, each player opens the case link on their device, and the call is only for voices and faces. Do not share your screen: the dossier would be visible to everyone.

On a call people easily talk over each other, so circle order works especially well there. In elimination mode a timer of 30 or 45 seconds per question also keeps the rhythm. If someone’s connection drops, they keep their seat: reopening the link brings them back. While they are offline, their turn is skipped after 15 seconds.

Settings for different groups

Three or four players: one spy, classic mode, 5 minutes and free question order. With so few people every answer matters, and short cases let everyone try the spy’s role quickly.

Five or six players: classic mode for 7 minutes, or elimination with 3 circles. Experienced groups can try two spies. Cover roles make answers more varied and help newcomers find something to say.

Seven to ten players: 10 minutes in classic mode, or elimination with 4 or 5 circles and a timer of 30 or 45 seconds per question. Two or three spies keep the game dynamic when there are many agents at the table.

For the first game, choose a familiar theme such as City or Vacation. Space, History and Crime work better once everyone knows the rules. For a regular group, a custom theme with your own places is the most fun.

Common mistakes

Naming the location in all but name. "Is the water cold?" at a pool is not a question but a clue for the spy.

Asking only questions with a yes or no answer. Such answers are easy to fake, so they do not help find the spy.

Wasting the accusation in the first minute on a hunch. After that you can only watch and vote.

Forgetting that a tie in the final vote goes to the spy. Before the vote, agree out loud on who is the most suspicious.

For the spy: staying silent or answering with one word. Too little information is as suspicious as too much.

FAQ

Do I need to install anything? No. Spybluff works in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer.

How many players do I need? From 3 to 10. With fewer than three players a case cannot start.

Is the game free? Yes, the game is completely free. It is supported by advertising.

What if someone does not vote on an accusation in time? The vote lasts 45 seconds, and without a unanimous "guilty" the suspect is cleared and the interrogation resumes.

What if the spy does not type a guess in time? After one minute the guess counts as wrong, and the spy is out.

Can an agent press Reveal yourself by accident? Yes, and nothing bad happens: the agent just sees a reminder and the game goes on.