How to Play Spyfall Game – Spyfall Official Game rules
What is the Spyfall Game
Spyfall is an interesting social deduction party board game designed by Alexander Ushan and published by Hobby World. The spy board game involves asking probing questions of others to determine whether they are the spy or not. The spy uses inferences from questions and answers from other players to determine their location and role. Some of the locations include a casino, a bank, a pirate ship, and even an airport. The locations also come with specific roles. However, there is only one spy card.
This spy game is very interactive and can be played by anybody regardless of profession or interest. In the game, there are waiters, mechanics, bankers, and even train attendants. Even your grandmother will enjoy this game.
Number of players required: 3-8 players
Time: 15 Minutes
Age: 13+
Components
- 208 cards (26 decks of 8 cards each)
- 26 ziplock bags
- Rulebook
The Object of the Game (Spyfall Rules)
The object of the game is to figure out who the spy is and for the spy also to figure out the location of everyone else.
Recommended number of rounds to play
Five rounds are recommended for your first play.
Setup
Each deck of cards contains seven locations and one spy card which is on top. One person is selected to be a dealer and he shuffles the card, selects one a random, keeping it hidden from the other players and making sure that he provides a number of cards equal to the number of players involved. He then shuffles the cards and places them face down for each player.
Each player picks their card, looks at them, without showing it to others, and then places it back down.
There are two types of cards you could receive.
The location card and the spy card
Location and spy card example
Location Card.
Spy Card
Although the image and location cards may look like the other players, the bottom roles will be very different.
Players with location cards become the role on their location card, and they must answer all questions truthfully with their role in mind.
However, the player with the spy card can be as dishonest as he or she wants to. If you are a spy, it is recommended not to jump straight to studying the middle page of the instruction book to avoid giving yourself away.
Once every player has looked at their card, they place them face down on the table. You’re not allowed to look at the card throughout the game. So, you must commit the location and role on the card to memory before putting the card down.
Here is a list of Spyfall questions you can ask to find the spy
- What is the weather like outside?
- How are the bathrooms there?
- Do you think this place is dangerous?
- How did you get here today?
- Complete this sentence – “I did two interestingly related stuff. _______ and
- Who is your boss?
- What are you holding in your hand?
- What do you see out the window?
- I love that fruit. Remind me what it was again.
- Who was the last person you spoke to?
- If you need a license right now and no money, what will you do?
First Round of Gameplay
When the last card is placed on the table, an 8-minute timer is turned on.
After that, the dealer takes the first turn, then the other players also take their turns. At this point, you must address a player using their name. Questions are not repeated or clarified in any way so you have to stay attentive; no follow-up questions are allowed.
You can ask questions based on location but it is not necessarily required. For example, Michael who is your boss?
The one being addressed can answer anyhow they like with their specific roles in mind. The spy however is free to be dishonest.
After the player answers the questions, they then get to ask anyone a question except the player that asked them a question. This process continues until the timer runs out.
Once per round, any player may stop the timer and accuse one player of being the spy.
No discussion or defense is given. Each player agrees or disagrees with the accusation.
If all the players except for the accused player agree then the round ends and the convicted player reveals their card. If the accusation is correct, the non-spies win the round. If not, then the spy wins the round. The clock is resumed if all the players don’t agree. The player who made the accusation will not accuse another player during the remaining time of the round.
While the clock is still running with no accusation going on, the spy may end the round and reveal his card. He can look at the middle page of the rule book at all possible locations and guess where the other players are. If he is right, he wins the round. If not, the non-spies win the round.
At the end of each round, open discussions are done among the players.
The discussions are done within these requirements.
Don’t:
- Reveal location
- Discuss Location
- Ask more questions
- Try to get new or repeated information
You are only allowed to discuss suspicions.
Next, an accusation phase commences.
The dealer starts by accusing another player and everyone votes on it.
If it is a unanimous agreement, remember the accused doesn’t vote. The convicted reveal their card. If they are the spy, the non-spies win the round. If not, the spy wins the round.
If the vote is not unanimous, the player to the left accuses someone. If no one is convicted after everyone has had their turn to become the accuser, then the spy wins the round.
Each player gets their turn to accuse even if they have already used their one-stop accusation.
The round is now over.
End of Round
Quick Note: Players decide on the number of rounds before the game starts.
After eight minutes goes by, gather up everyone’s cards and shuffle up the location cards face down and put the spy card on top, and place them back in the bag.
Set the bag aside and give points to the player based on who won.
Scoring
The Spy
If the spy was not convicted, he receives two points.
If a non- spy was convicted of being a spy the spy receives four points.
If the spy stopped the clock and correctly guessed the location of the other players, he receives four points
Non-Spies
If the non-spy was victorious, then each of them receives 1 point.
If a non-spy was able to successfully convict a spy, that player receives an additional bonus point.
The Spy in the previous round becomes the dealer for the next round.
The player with the highest number of points after the agreed number of rounds wins.
Video Tutorial On How To Play Spyfall Board Game
Use this video-based tutorial to also touch on the basics.
