Imposter Word Game
Set the table, then pass one phone round it: every player holds the screen to see their own card, and the imposters you asked for get the other half of the word pair, or no word at all. The word list is ours, 150 pairs and 300 words across six categories of 25 pairs each, and either half of a pair can be the crew's word, so knowing the list does not tell you which way round it fell. The part a shared phone actually needs is the covering: a card is on screen only while a finger or a key is holding it down, and the moment the phone moves on that card is sealed, so going back re-covers it and cannot open it again. Nothing is saved except the four table settings, the round is never written down, and there is no account, no server and no second device.
- 7 players
- 1 imposter
- Any category
- Round 1
Player 1 of 7
pass the phone face down
cards seen 0 of 7going back re-covers the card
Imposter word game, round 1: 7 players, 1 imposter, any category. Cards seen 0 of 7. The word stays on the phone until the round is revealed.
Hold the button with a finger or with Space to see your card, and let go to cover it. While the phone is still yours you can hold again as often as you like; the moment it moves on, that card is sealed and going back re-covers it instead of reopening it. Changing any of the four settings deals the round again from player one, and New round draws again on a fresh seed and counts the round up. The settings are kept in this browser so the page opens where you left it, and Start over at the top of the page forgets them. The word, the roles and the seed are never saved.
Common questions
- How do you play the imposter word game?
- Everyone at the table except the imposters is given the same secret word. You go round the group and each person says one clue about the word, something that proves they know it without naming it, and then the table votes on who was bluffing. This page does the dealing part: set how many players are at the table, how many imposters to hide and which category to draw from, then pass the phone round and let each person hold the screen to see their own card. When everyone has looked, the phone says so and the Reveal button puts the word and the imposters on screen for the whole table.
- Can the next player see the card the last one was holding?
- No, and that is the one thing this page is built around. A card is drawn on screen only while a finger or a key is holding the button down, so letting go covers it, and moving to another app or hiding the tab covers it too. The moment the phone moves on to the next player, that card is sealed: going back re-covers it and the hold button is replaced by a line saying that card has already been seen. That holds in both directions, so walking back and forward through the table cannot open one card twice. While it is still your turn you can hold again as often as you like, which is what saves a player who let go too early.
- How many players and imposters can it deal?
- From 3 to 20 players, and at least 1 imposter. The imposter count is capped just below half the table, so the crew always outnumbers the imposters and at least two people always share the word: 3 or 4 players can hide 1 imposter, 7 players can hide 3, and a full table of 20 can hide up to 9 imposters. Ask for more than that and the page says what the cap is at your table size rather than quietly dealing a different number.
- Where do the words come from?
- They were written for this tool: 150 pairs, 300 words, in six categories of 25 pairs each. The categories are Food and drink, Animals, Places, Sports and games, Jobs and Around the house, and you can also leave it on any category and draw from all 150 pairs at once. The two words in a pair are close enough to bluff between, like a pancake and a waffle or a crocodile and an alligator, and either half can come up as the crew's word, so someone who has read the whole list still does not know which way round a round fell. Nothing is fetched while you play and no other site's list was copied.
- Does the imposter know they are the imposter?
- Yes. The card says so, and then it says what to do about it. There are two ways to deal it and the choice is yours: on Close word an imposter holds the other half of the pair, so they have something to say while they work out what the crew is actually holding, which makes a gentler game for a mixed table. On No word an imposter holds nothing at all and has to build a clue out of what everyone else says, which is harder and much funnier. The reveal says what the imposter was holding, the close word or nothing at all.
- Does it need an account, a signal or a second phone?
- None of the three. The whole game runs in the browser on the one device you are holding, so it works on a train, in a pub basement or on a plane, and nothing you type is sent anywhere. The four table settings are kept in this browser so the page opens where you left it, and Start over at the top of the page forgets them. The round itself is never written down: the word, the roles and the seed are not saved, so reloading the page or coming back tomorrow starts a clean round rather than reopening the last one.
- What is a good number of imposters for a big group?
- One imposter is the standard game and it works at any table size. Two changes the game rather than scaling it, because the imposters do not know each other and can accidentally cover for one another, which is worth doing once the table is past about eight people and one imposter has too many clues to hide behind. The cap here stops you going further than the crew can survive: with 20 players you can set up to 9 imposters, but a table that big is usually better split into two rounds than played as one.
Everything happens on the one device in your hand: the paired word lists are written for this tool and the roles are drawn here, with exactly the number of imposters you set and no more. No account, no server and no second phone. A card, once covered, cannot be reopened by going back, and nothing about a round survives into the next one.