The hidden-role half runs on how much the liar knows. The Imposter can see all sixteen words but not which one is secret. Undercover’s Spy has nothing at all and has to work out the location from the answers people give. Art Fraud’s faker gets the category and a pen.
Werewolf resolves the entire night on the phones, so no one sits out as narrator and nobody is eliminated — your card may have been swapped and nobody tells you. Quest of Shadows and Secret Dictator both start at five, because a lie needs somewhere to stand.
Thorns and Crack the Code hide information rather than people. Thorns is four discs each and a bidding war with no cards to read; Crack the Code deals one code to the whole table and everybody breaks it alone, so the thing you are reading is the scoreboard.
Pick by the night you’re having
Crack the Code
Crack the Code starts at two players; Whodunnit and Ruff Luck do too.
Five minutes before dinner
Imposter
Imposter and Werewolf both run five to ten minutes.
Ten or twelve people
Undercover
Imposter and Undercover both seat twelve.
A long evening, five or more
Secret Dictator
Secret Dictator runs twenty to thirty minutes and Quest of Shadows fifteen to twenty-five.Every social deduction game we have
Art Fraud4–10 players · 5–10 min
Crack the Code2–12 players · 10–15 min
Alien Aboard4–10 players · 10–15 min
Imposter3–12 players · 5–10 min
Ruff Luck2–8 players · 5–15 min
Whodunnit2–6 players · 10–20 min
Thorns3–6 players · 10–15 min
Undercover3–12 players · 8–12 min
Werewolf3–10 players · 5–10 min
Quest of Shadows5–10 players · 15–25 min
Secret Dictator5–10 players · 20–30 minPlaying Imposter with or without the app
Imposter online →
The sixteen-word board on every phone, with the vote and scoring done for you.
Imposter game generator →
No app and no board: pass one phone round and deal a secret word to everyone but the imposter.
Imposter game words →
608 words in 38 categories to read out at the table.
Imposter rules →
How a round works, how it is scored and what a tie does.
Playing in under a minute
- 1One person opens tableparty.io on a phone or a laptop and picks a game.
- 2Everyone else types the four-letter room code on their own phone. Nothing to install.
- 3Play. Anything secret stays on your own screen, so it works across a table or a video call.
Questions about Social deduction games online
What is a social deduction game?
A game where some players hold hidden information or a secret role and the group works out who, or what, by talking, bluffing and voting. Werewolf, Imposter and Undercover are the best-known kinds.
Can I play social deduction games online with friends for free?
Yes. Every game here runs in a browser, is free and needs no app or sign-up: one person opens a room and everyone joins from their own phone with the code.
Which needs the fewest players?
Crack the Code, Whodunnit and Ruff Luck start at two. Imposter, Undercover, Thorns and Werewolf start at three, Art Fraud at four, and Quest of Shadows and Secret Dictator at five.
Does somebody have to sit out and narrate?
No. Werewolf runs the night on the phones — the Seer’s peek, the Robber’s steal and the Troublemaker’s swap all resolve without a moderator, so everyone in the room holds a card.
What stops the table just voting for the quiet one?
In Imposter a tied vote accuses nobody and the Imposter walks, so the room has to genuinely agree on a name. In Undercover it takes everybody agreeing to convict, and each player may accuse only once.
Which is the longest?
Secret Dictator at twenty to thirty minutes, then Quest of Shadows at fifteen to twenty-five. Both keep a floor where the faster games shrank online, because the arguing is the game.