Imposter is a word game for 3 to 12 players on one phone. Everyone gets the same secret word except the imposter, who has to bluff. Pass the phone round so each person can read their card in secret, then take turns saying one word about the secret word. Listen closely, talk it over and vote: who is the imposter? Play the imposter game online in your browser, free and with no sign-up. Because everything happens on a single device, it is a pass the phone party game for family evenings, sleepovers and long car rides, and it works offline once the page has loaded.
How to play Imposter
- Secret cards. The phone goes to each player in turn. Tap Show my card: the crew sees the secret word and its category, the imposter sees You are the imposter and, by default, only the category. Tap Hide and pass and hand the phone on.
- Clues. Put the phone on the table. Starting with the player on screen, everyone says one word out loud about the secret word, without saying the word itself. Tap Next after each clue. You can play 1, 2 or 3 rounds of clues.
- Discussion. Talk it over before the timer runs out. Whose clue was too vague? Who seemed to copy someone else? Tap Start the vote when you are ready.
- Vote. Agree on one person and tap their name, or vote in secret by passing the phone round.
- Last chance. If you catch an imposter, they pick the secret word from 8 options. A right guess steals the win.
The crew wins when they catch an imposter who then misses the word; in every other case the imposters win. Some groups know it as Word Imposter or the who is the liar game; the rules are the same. The full imposter game rules cover ties, variants and how many imposters to use.
Prefer to watch? See the 6-minute video on the Imposter rules page.
Options for your group
The setup panel shows the number of imposters and the categories; open More options for the hint, clue rounds, timer and voting:
- Imposters: 1, or 2 from 6 players, or 3 from 9 players. There are always fewer imposters than half the group.
- Categories: pick any of the 10 word categories: Food, Animals, Places, Jobs, Sports, Around the house, Nature, School, Celebrations and Transport.
- Imposter hint: Category only, Nothing for a harder bluff, or A similar word, where the imposter gets a related word and does not know they are the imposter.
- Clue rounds: 1, 2 or 3.
- Discussion timer: off, or 1, 2, 3 or 5 minutes, with pause and +30 seconds.
- Voting: Together at the table, or Secret: each player votes alone, the most votes is caught, and a tie gets one revote between the tied players. If the revote is tied too, nobody is caught.
Imposter game words and scoring
The game deals from more than 300 family-friendly imposter game words, each with a hand-picked similar word, and it avoids words used in your last 50 rounds on the same device. Each round, every crew member scores 1 point when the crew wins and each imposter scores 2 points when the imposters win. Rematch deals a new word and new imposters, and the first clue moves to the next player, while the scoreboard keeps adding up for the session.
Quick tips
- Crew: be specific, not obvious. If the word is banana, “yellow” helps the imposter; “peel” proves you know without giving it away.
- Imposter: go late if you can. Listen to two or three clues, then give a short clue that fits them all.
- Vote on patterns, not one clue. Anyone can give a weak clue once; look for the player whose clues never quite land.
The imposter strategy tutorial explains how to bluff, how to read the room and when to change your vote. Looking for another party game on one phone? See all party games, our family games and the offline games you can play without Wi-Fi. For a quieter word game, try Hangman.