How to play

Set up the game

1. Open the hosted app, or run it locally with Node.js 22 or newer using npm install, then npm start. Local hosting requires the computer to stay awake and everyone's phones to use the same Wi-Fi. Cloudflare hosting only requires internet access.
2. Open Play, enter your name and create a private room. The creator becomes host. Invite friends with the room link or lobby QR code. Only people with that invite can join.
3. Each player enters a name and picks an available color. You need at least 3 players. With 2 Impostors you need at least 5, and with 3 you need at least 7.
4. The host opens Stations. Disable spots you don't have, edit the names and physical tasks, or add stations. Choose a phone mini-game for each station or choose Surprise me. Save your changes.
5. Open Print cards and print the station cards. Place each card at its named location. The Join card lets players join by scanning its QR code.
6. Pick a meeting spot and adjust the host settings. Explain the boundaries and tagging rules before pressing START GAME.

Stations and settings are saved separately for each room. Bookmark your room link to reuse them. Existing stations keep their codes when edited. Reprint cards when their instructions, room or server address changes. Old station cards without a room ID must be reprinted.

Agree on safe, accessible tasks and walking-only play. Use gentle shoulder taps, no grabbing or pushing. If someone is tagged in an unsafe spot, they should move to a safe spot nearby.

Start a round and learn your role

When the round starts, hide your phone screen and tap Show my secret role. Roles are assigned randomly each round. Keep yours secret. During play, the Secret button lets you check it again.

If you are a Crewmate

Finish your assigned tasks, watch what other players do, report tagged players, and help identify Impostors during meetings.

If you are an Impostor

Pretend to do tasks, discreetly tag Crewmates, and use sabotage from your Secret screen. If there are other Impostors, you can see who they are. Your task list gives you cover, but completing it does not move the crew's progress bar.

Players who join after a round starts wait for the next round.

Locations and tasks

A station is a real spot chosen by the host, not a location detected by your phone. The starter stations include Kitchen, Living room, Front door, Bedroom, Bathroom, Backyard, Garage, Bookshelf, Dining table, and Stairs.

Each station has a physical task and a phone mini-game. For example, the starter Kitchen task is to stack 5 cups into a tower, then charge a battery on your phone.

1. Check your task list and walk to one of your assigned stations. You may do them in any order.
2. Read the station's card and do the real-life task. This part runs on the honor system.
3. Scan the card with your phone's camera and open its link. Alternatively, tap I'm at a station and type the code printed on the card.
4. Tap the mini-game button and follow its instructions. Completing the mini-game checks off that station on your task list.

Assignments are randomized at the start of each round. You get up to the host's Tasks each count, limited by the number of enabled stations. There are no repeated stations within your own list, but other players may share your stations. The physical instructions stay the same until the host edits them.

The phone games are Charge the battery, Blast the asteroids, Fix the wires, Copy the lights, and Pump the fuel. Surprise me picks a random game when you open the task.

If a card says there's no task for you there, check your list. Only assigned tasks count. The crew's shared progress bar includes every Crewmate's tasks, even after they become a ghost.

Tagging and ghosts

An Impostor tags a Crewmate with a gentle tap on the shoulder during active play. Tagging happens in person, not through an app button. Don't tag during meetings.

1. If you are tagged, tap I got tagged on your own phone and confirm.
2. Sit down where you were tagged, or safely nearby. Stay quiet and do not reveal who tagged you.
3. A living player who finds you taps Report body and confirms. Everyone gathers for a meeting.
4. Once a meeting starts, tagged players become ghosts. Crewmate ghosts can resume their unfinished tasks when play resumes, but cannot vote, report bodies, call meetings, or fix reactor sabotage.

Being voted out also makes you a ghost. Stay silent about what you know, and don't help living players identify the Impostors. Crewmate ghost tasks still help the crew win.

Meetings and voting

A body report or an emergency meeting stops normal play. Gather at the host's Meeting spot. Living players explain what they saw and who they suspect.

Tap Meeting to call an emergency meeting if you need a discussion without finding a body. Each player has a limited number per round. Reporting a body does not use that allowance. Emergency meetings cannot be called while a reactor meltdown is active, but body reports can still start a meeting and clear the meltdown.

1. Discuss until the Talk time timer expires. The host may tap Start voting now to move on early.
2. When voting opens, tap a living player or Skip vote, then confirm with Vote. A confirmed vote cannot be changed.
3. Voting closes when every living player has voted or the Vote time timer expires. Only submitted votes count.
4. The player with the unique highest vote count is ejected. If Skip wins, the highest count is tied, or no one votes, nobody is ejected.

If Reveal roles when voted out is on, the result says whether the ejected player was an Impostor and shows the remaining Impostor count. Otherwise their role stays hidden until the round ends. After the result, play resumes unless a team has won.

Reactor sabotage

An Impostor opens Secret and taps Sabotage! when its cooldown has expired. Sabotage needs at least two enabled stations. There can only be one active meltdown.

The app randomly selects two enabled stations and displays them with a countdown. These do not have to be on your task list.

1. Two different living players go to the two listed stations, one player per station.
2. Each scans the station card or types its code.
3. Each holds the FIX button until their repair completes.

The repairs do not need to happen simultaneously, but both must finish before the countdown ends. One player cannot fix both stations. Ghosts cannot fix the reactor. Impostors can help fix it to look innocent.

If both repairs finish, the meltdown clears and the sabotage cooldown restarts. If the timer reaches zero, the Impostors win immediately. Emergency meetings are blocked during the meltdown; a body report can interrupt it.

Winning and playing again

• Crewmates win when all crew tasks are complete, including ghost tasks, or every Impostor has been voted out.
• Impostors win when the number of living Impostors equals or exceeds the number of living Crewmates, or a reactor meltdown runs out of time.

The result screen reveals the Impostors. The host taps Play again to return everyone to the lobby. Adjust settings or stations between rounds, then start again for fresh roles and assignments.

The host can also use End game during play to abandon the current round and return to the lobby.

Host settings

Change settings in the lobby between rounds. Tap the small ? beside any setting in the app for its explanation. Tap it again to hide it. Defaults below are for a fresh setup; saved settings may differ.

Impostors

1 to 3, default 1. The number of secret Impostors. You need at least twice that number plus one player, and at least 3 players total.

Tasks each

1 to 10, default 4. Random stations assigned to each player, capped by the number of enabled stations. More tasks usually lengthens the round.

Talk time

15 to 300 seconds, default 60. Discussion time before voting opens. The host can end discussion early.

Vote time

10 to 120 seconds, default 30. Time to submit a vote. Voting finishes early if everyone votes.

Emergency buttons

0 to 3, default 1. Emergency meetings available to each player per round. Zero leaves only body reports. Body reports do not use this allowance.

Meeting spot

Default Living room. The place everyone gathers to discuss and vote. The app does not track where players are.

Reveal roles when voted out

On by default. Shows whether an ejected player was an Impostor and how many Impostors remain. Off keeps that information secret until the round ends.

Sabotage wait

20 to 300 seconds, default 60. The shared Impostor cooldown before the first sabotage and after a meltdown is fixed. After each meeting, sabotage must also wait at least 20 seconds, or the remaining cooldown if it is longer.

Reactor timer

20 to 120 seconds, default 45. Time to repair both sabotage stations before Impostors win. Give players enough time to walk to the locations and complete the repairs.

For a first game, try one Impostor and the defaults. Use fewer tasks for a shorter round. Increase the reactor timer if stations are far apart, and increase Sabotage wait if players need more uninterrupted task time.

Connection and scanning help