How to Play the Imposter Game: Rules, Setup, and Steps

The imposter/impostor game takes about a minute to explain but could keep a group entertained for hours to no end. Here’s the short version of the game’s rules:

• Everyone gets the same secret word, but the impostor doesn’t.

• Players each give clues about the word, forcing the impostor to bluff along.

• The group talks it all over and votes on who the impostor is.

• The imposter wins if they aren’t found as the result of the voting.

All you really need to start is a few friends and a pen and paper, or an app such as Fakeit that would do most of the dealing for you. Whether you’re learning how to play imposter from scratch or just brushing up on the imposter rules, you can be

in a round within minutes.

What Is the Imposter Game?

Imposter game (also spelled “impostor”) is a party game with plenty of bluffing and detective work involved. You won't need a game board for this one, and it takes next to no prep. This is a great game for a loud and chatty team and is guaranteed to have you teasing and accusing each other in no time.

What is the basic concept and objective?

All but one participant in the playing group are secretly told the same word. That one player becomes the imposter, as they don’t know the secret word. Some versions of the game do offer a vague hint about a somewhat related topic, but nothing specific enough to figure the word on the spot.

Once the impostor is chosen, each player in the group gives a clue about the word they were told. The clue has to be specific enough to prove your knowledge of the word but also vague enough for the impostor not to figure it out. Meanwhile, the imposter has to listen carefully and figure out something that sounds convincing enough.

After the “clues” step, the group talks it over and starts voting on who they think the imposter actually is:

• The regular players win if they vote out the imposter (if there are several imposters, the group has to find all of them in the same vote).

• The imposter wins if they survive through the vote.

Some versions of the game offer something like a “last chance” to an imposter to figure out the secret word before being eliminated.

Generally speaking, both sides of the game are bluffing. The imposter pretends to know the secret word, and the regular players try not to give it away easily.

What are some common names and variations?

This game goes by many names, and the imposter rules for all of these versions are slightly different. You’ll find it called the imposter game, impostor, or just “Find the Imposter.” Related games include Undercover, which gives players different words within the same topic, and Spyfall, where players ask each other questions about a specific location instead.

Some other things could also change within the original format, as well:

• Bigger groups often resort to choosing multiple imposters instead of one.

• One word per clue is the baseline, but some groups use a short phrase instead.

• Some rounds use yes/no questions instead of clues about the word.

• There could be silent rounds that ban talking completely, choosing to rely on gestures or drawings: each player draws a quick one-line hint at the secret word, and the group studies the drawings before voting.

• As mentioned before, some groups allow a caught imposter to make a last-chance guess at the word.

Don’t worry too much about finding the “best” version. The original idea remains the same, with most groups settling on whichever rules feel most fun after the first couple of rounds.

Who Can Play and How Many Players Do You Need?

How many players are ideal for a round?

At least three players are necessary to start a game of imposter, as one has to be the imposter and the rest have to be able to compare clues among themselves. With exactly three players in the game, rounds are short, and the vote often feels like a lucky guess more than anything. As such, it works best as a warm-up instead of the main event.

Most groups find the best fit somewhere around five to ten players. At this level, there are enough clues to work with, and the imposter also has some cover without dragging the round on. A very first game with four to six players with one imposter tends to be easy to follow in most cases.

That said, bigger groups also work well. Every extra player adds their own voice to the discussion, even if turns take longer and quieter people often get lost in the noise. Once a group goes over ten people or so, many tend to add a second imposter to keep the vote more interesting. The upper limit does depend on how the games are played – anyone can join in around a physical table, but the ones using an app could have a more rigid player cap. The Smakapps app called Fakeit: Imposter Game allows up to 20 players per session, with as many as six imposters for a better gameplay experience in large groups.

Is the game suitable for kids and mixed-experience groups?

Yes, but with some adjustments. Most kids at around ten years of age will be able to understand the imposter rules on their own. Younger children can also join in if the secret words are simple enough: everyday animals, foods, etc.

Mixed-experience groups work well in most cases, as the game itself doesn’t reward any special skill, and anyone can learn to play imposter after a single round. A first-timer keeping their composure could fool a seasoned player, and experienced players often overthink their clues and give themselves away. A slow first round is a good idea for a group with a few first-timers: everyone can explain their clue out loud before the discussion starts and then pick a word that everyone in the room would know.

Imposter Game Rules at a Glance

This is the short version of the imposter rules, to create a concise explanation of them in one place. The complete step-by-step walkthrough on how to play imposter would be provided a bit later in this article.

What are the win conditions for the imposter and the other players?

The regular players win by voting off the imposter. If a game has multiple imposters, players would have to find all of them at once. Voting out an innocent player as a result of the vote would hand the round to the imposters.

The imposter generally wins by surviving the vote without getting picked. Some versions give a caught imposter one last chance to name the word correctly. If they do, they win the game even though they were caught originally. That (optional) rule is also why regular players try to keep their clues vague until the very end. Most games also don’t use the last-chance guess, ending the game directly after the vote.

What actions are allowed during a round?

While the group exchanges clues and talks things over, the following actions are all fair play:

• Offering a clue on your turn: often a single word related to the secret word or phrase.

• Asking another player to explain their clue.

• Either accusing someone or defending yourself when you’re the one being accused.

• Bluffing: it’s expected from the imposter to blend in properly.

Some things are off limits, though, such as voting for yourself (each player only has one vote) or saying the secret word out loud or showing your role/word to anyone before the end-game reveal.

What Do You Need to Play?

Do you need role cards, a moderator, or other materials?

Not much is needed to play the game of imposter. The only real requirement should be a way to tell each player their role in private, so that no one else but the impostor would know they’re the impostor.

The classic way to do this game uses small slips of paper that detail each player’s role, and then the slips themselves are shuffled so the roles are random. Have everyone draw one from the shuffled pile to begin the game. A slight variation of this uses playing cards instead of paper slips: pick a single card ahead of time that would mark the imposter and deal all of them face down.

In a game of imposter, a moderator is optional. You could write all the slips beforehand and join in, as you won't know who has the imposter slip after mixing them up. You can also choose a dedicated host to know the word, the imposter, draw out the clues, and receive the votes without joining the game. It’s useful when you're playing with kids or a very large group of people, or if an adult is available.

The secret word also has to come from somewhere to begin with, so it’s worth agreeing on a topic first. Granted, apps like Fakeit offer a wide selection of topics to pick from. It’s important to pick a category everyone in the group would be at least somewhat familiar with. An overly obscure secret word would leave at least some of the players struggling to think of appropriate clues, while a word that’s too broad could be easily guessed by an impostor.

Can you set up the game on paper or online?

Both options are possible, so you can play imposter game rounds on paper or on a phone. Paper tends to be the simplest setup when you’re in the same room, and it also costs nothing. 

Online play can come in a few forms, like a video call or a shared device. In a video call, a host can message each player their role in the game in private using some form of communication like a chat. A shared device also has its advantages, passing the same phone around so that each player can look at their role in private before handing the phone forward. Applications on smartphones can do the dealing for you while keeping every role hidden, eliminating the need for slips of paper. Some apps even allow guests to join using their own phones, further simplifying the process – these rooms can be joined using a room code or a QR code, like how Fakeit does.

How to Play the Imposter Game

This section covers every single step of how to play imposter games. It should only be slow at first, speeding up the process significantly once everyone’s familiar with the imposter rules.

Step 1: Choose a word and assign roles

Settle on a category that suits everyone, then pick a secret word (or let an app do so for you). How many imposters do you need? Well, small groups are usually better with just one, but larger gatherings might want to pick several for a better experience.

Next, distribute the roles using either slips of paper or an app, as we’ve discussed before. Everyone except the impostor gets the secret word told to them.

Step 2: Let each player see their role privately

You look at your slip or screen in secret and then memorize the word if you have one. Keeping a straight face keeps the game interesting without giving important information away by a reflective wince or grin at the very beginning of the round. In Fakeit, you swipe up on the phone to see your role, then pass it on.

Step 3: Take turns giving clues

This is where the group starts taking turns to give one clue each about the secret word. The point of this is to say something that proves you know the secret word without outright revealing what the word actually is.

Let’s say the secret word is “beach.” One player could say “sand,” and the next might say “summer.” After hearing both, the imposter can safely add “sunny” and blend in as if they know the word. All players have to try and find a delicate balance between making a clue too clear and making one that’s too vague: the former helps the imposter, but the latter makes the person in question look like an impostor.

Depending on their role, a starting player could have either a small advantage or a massive disadvantage. A regular player has something to work off of (the secret word), but an imposter playing first would be put on the spot, forced to guess blindly or lose immediately. The first speaker is often picked at random after assigning all the roles, keeping the imposter guessing about their position in the sequence every time.

Some groups actually skip the turn order altogether and let everyone speak freely until the time limit arrives. Others double down and go through the entire sequence twice, giving everyone more information about who to judge – while also giving the imposter more time to work out the secret word.

Step 4: Discuss who might be the imposter

Once everyone voices their clues, the talking segment begins. This section exists to ask other players what they meant by their clue and maybe point out what you found wrong or just “off.” A suspiciously vague clue can be a good starting point for scrutiny like this, and the same could be said for the one that simply rephrases something that was already voiced by another player.

Even hesitation could be evidence in itself, even if there are also players that hesitate when figuring out how to not give the secret word away. Timers exist for these stages to keep the talking from dragging on for too long. The Fakeit app immediately moves to voting once the timer reaches zero, and its discussion time limits will be covered later on.

Step 5: Vote and reveal the roles

All the players should vote at the same time to avoid someone copying another person’s vote. The group has to nominate exactly as many players during voting as the number of impostors in the game. Once the picks are locked in, the roles are revealed and everyone sees who the imposters really were. Both the app and the paper format work similarly here, with the app also showing the secret word and all the imposters in the same place.

Step 6: Decide who wins and start the next round

If you managed to make everyone in your group realise who the impostor was, then you won against the impostors! If not, the impostor won! But after that, why not choose a new word, deal again, and let someone else be the imposter? And if you're keeping score, you might like to give yourself a point for each win.

How to Run Fair Discussions and Votes

How long should players discuss before voting?

A minute or two is enough time for most groups. If you're sitting in a snug little group of four or five players, the conversation should finish within a minute or two. But if you're at a crowded table with ten or more, you'd better allow a little bit of time for everyone to tell their clues and ask their question.

Making the talking segments too short risks creating a rushed vote where everyone’s forced to come down to a hunch instead of deduction and evidence. That said, the risk of this going for too long is also real, with the regular players starting to repeat themselves and potentially revealing too much about the secret word. A timer settles both these questions automatically. The Fakeit app has one of those built-in, starting from 2 minutes and going up in 30-second increments.

What happens if the vote is tied?

On paper, the usual fix is another vote between the tied players only, with the possibility of a short round of discussion before that. If the tie persists, some groups hand the win to the impostors as a house rule, as the regular players failed to agree on who to vote for.

Whatever the rule is, agreeing on something specific ahead of time is the better option than arguing about it mid-game. The Fakeit app avoids the problem entirely: the group picks as many suspects as there are imposters together, so there’s no split vote to break.

What Strategies Can Players Use?

How can the imposter avoid being discovered?

All the imposter needs is information, so the first step is to listen carefully. Going first is always a challenge, with the broad term being the preferred option so that you have a better chance of not being discovered immediately. It’s a lot more difficult than going later, which usually means you already have at least a few clues to work with and identify the general area of the topic, if nothing else. The biggest mistake here would be to try and copy someone else’s clue word-for-word.

Short and confident answers are preferred over long ones: every extra detail could mean contradiction in your own argument. But you can try to find an oddity in another player’s argument and point that out, too, diverting the attention from yourself in the process.

How can other players spot the imposter?

Follow-up questions are the best way to do it. Try to ask a player if their clue was about how the thing looks or what it does. People with the answer in mind usually have a much faster response available than the ones that have to scramble with one on the spot. 

Even the clues can help in a way. A clue that could fit a lot of terms at once raises a lot of suspicion immediately, and the same could be said for the one that echoes another player’s statement. Keep an eye on everyone’s reactions to see if a player starts defending themselves as soon as you accuse them instead of looking puzzled or annoyed at least for a little bit.

Be aware of the ones that are the loudest accusers: they could be either very confident or trying their hardest to steer the group the wrong way. Make sure that your own clue is easy to explain, as you’ll probably be asked about it anyway.

Imposter Game Rules and Variations

How can you adjust the rules for different group sizes?

Here’s a rough guide for what to change as the group grows in size:

Players	Imposters	What to change
3-4	1	Go around twice if there’s not enough information to work with
5-10	1-2	Standard rules and a moderate timer for discussion
11-15	2-3	One clue per person, saving questions for the discussion part
16-20	3-6	Same as above but with a longer timer and a firm rule against conversation tangents

These numbers are not rigid rules but starting points to work around, as the imposter rules are easy to adjust for any situation if necessary. For example, Fakeit allows up to 20 players per session, with as many as six imposters for a game of 20 people.

What variations work well for kids, parties, or online play?

Younger kids tend to be most comfortable with easy words and short discussions. If writing or explaining clues feels like too much pressure, drawing could be a better alternative, and apps like Fakeit have a dedicated drawing mode, too.

Imagine twelve people in the same room lounging on a couch and the floor, with snacks going around. It’s the kind of crowd that makes it easy to play imposter on the spot. Nobody wants a ten-minute debate in this setting. As such, short rounds can keep the energy high, with a firm timer cutting arguments off before they veer off. If you’re playing a paper version of the game, you could also make the loser of the previous round deal the next one so the job moves around.

Handling roles would be the biggest issue when doing this kind of game remotely. A host can message each player their role, with everyone saying their clue out loud on camera to make it easier to watch others’ reactions. If you’re in a large video call, typing clues in the chat at the same time could also help avoid confusion in the long term.

FAQ

Can you play the Imposter Game with paper?

Absolutely. Write the secret word on multiple slips of paper and leave one blank (or mark it as “impostor”) before folding them all and asking players to draw one each. The complete setup is in the “What Do You Need to Play?” section above.

Can the imposter ask questions?

Yes, the discussion after the clue reveal is something everyone has the right to participate in; otherwise, it would’ve been very easy to figure out who’s the imposter. Even more, the questions could help an impostor to figure out the secret word ahead of time. The only exception here is the question-based variation of the game where all the clues are in the question-based format.

Can you play online with friends?

Of course you can. On a video call, a host can message each player their role privately, and then the game can run as if everyone’s in the same room physically. There are also game apps with dedicated rooms that a user can create and let everyone join them by code or by scanning a QR: it’s something that Fakeit offers, at least.

How long does a game usually take?

Most rounds tend to last 5-10 minutes in total, including all the role assigning, the discussion, and the voting. Big groups take longer, obviously, with more people weighing in. The baseline for the discussion segment in apps like Fakeit, for example, starts from 2 minutes and can be customized in 30-second increments, if necessary.