How to Play the Imposter Game — Word Wolf Rules

The imposter game in 30 seconds

Everyone is dealt a word. Everyone except one player, that is — the wolf gets a word that is almost, but not quite, the same. The group might have “pancakes” while the wolf has “waffles”.

The catch is that nobody is told which one they are. Everyone talks as though they share a word, and the wolf shows up as a faint wrongness in the conversation — an answer that fits the topic but not quite the thing. At the end everyone votes. Catch the wolf and the citizens win.

Player 3 is the wolf — and nobody at the table can see this. Each phone shows one word and nothing else, in the same layout for all four. The only clue anyone gets is the small gap in what people say.

What you need

One phone is enough. Pick the number of players on the front page and it deals the words for you — nothing to install, no account, no cost. Because the words are dealt for you, everyone in the room gets to play; nobody has to sit out as the host.

Playing with people who are somewhere else? Use the online rooms instead. One phone each, and you talk over whatever call you are already on — Discord, Zoom, FaceTime, anything.

The rules, in four steps

1. Deal the words

Pass the phone around and look at your own word in private. The screen says nothing more than “your word is X”. It does not tell you whether you are a citizen or the wolf. That is the heart of the game: with nobody sure of their own side, everyone has a reason to search.

2. Talk

Everyone talks on the assumption that they all share a word. Five minutes is the usual length, a little longer with bigger groups (see the table further down).

You may talk about the thing the word refers to — and only that. Saying your word out loud is out, and so is asking for it (“is yours pancakes?”). So is treating the word as a word: how many letters, what it starts with, what it rhymes with. Narrow down the spelling and you can reach the answer without anyone ever describing the thing, which is the whole game.

When the talk runs dry, read out one of the questions on screen. There are more than 200 of them and they are written to pull out a texture without naming anything — “if it were a color, what color?” and the like.

3. Vote

When time is up, everyone points at once, on the count of three. Never go around the table one at a time; whoever speaks last just reads the room and follows it. The player with the most fingers is voted out.

4. Turn the card over

The player who was voted out says which word they had, and the round is decided on the spot. In the table above that is player 3 — “waffles”, the wolf, so the citizens win.

Who wins

If the vote ties and no single player is picked, talk for another 60 seconds and vote again. Tie a second time and the wolf has got away with it.

The wolf’s last chance

One more roll of the dice for a wolf who has been caught. Name the citizens’ word exactly and the round flips into a win. It opens up a second way to play — let yourself be caught, but mine the conversation hard enough to name the word. It is on by default here, and can be switched off under Settings.

How many players — and how many wolves

From 3 to 50 players on one phone, or up to 20 in an online room. Add wolves as the group grows.

You can set the number of wolves yourself, up to (players − 1) ÷ 2. Once the wolves reach half the room there is no majority left to out-vote them.

Two players does not work

The game starts at 3. With two, the moment your words disagree you know one of you is the wolf — the part where you look for them never happens. For two people, pick a different game.

How long to talk

Five minutes is the default, and it is shorter than people expect. Give a group too long and everyone turns careful, which kills the conversation. You can always add 60 seconds, so start at five.

Roles

• Citizen — the majority. Vote out the wolf and you win.
• Wolf — the odd one out. Survive the vote and you win. Most wolves only work out that they are the wolf once the talking starts.
• The wolf’s last chance — a wolf who is voted out still wins by naming the citizens’ word (on by default, and can be switched off under Settings).

There is also a fox — a third side with a word unlike either of the others — which lives in the Word Wolf app rather than here.

About the words

This site carries 300 words across six categories: food and drink, everyday life, fun and entertainment, love and relationships, school life, and one for kids. The Word Wolf app carries 1,400+, this set included.

Writing your own? Pick two things that are close together but felt slightly differently. “Dog / cat” is too far apart and breaks in one sentence; “coffee / black coffee” is so close that nobody can tell. Dokopa lists real examples by category.

Common questions

What is the imposter game?

It is a social deduction game where everyone is dealt a word, except one player whose word is slightly different, and the group works out who that is from the conversation alone. What makes it work is that nobody is told which side they are on. A round takes about five minutes and needs 3 players or more.

What are the rules, briefly?

Four steps. One: everyone looks at their own word in private. Two: everyone talks for a few minutes as though they share it. Three: on the count of three, everyone points at once. Four: if the player with the most votes was the wolf the citizens win, and if they were a citizen the wolf wins.

How is it different from Werewolf or Mafia?

In Werewolf and Mafia you know your own role from the start, and the game runs over several rounds with players being killed off at night. Here you do not know your own side, and there is one discussion and one vote — that is the whole game. Werewolf often runs half an hour or more; this takes about five. Video-game imposter games such as Among Us add tasks and a map, whereas here the only thing anyone does is talk.

What are you not allowed to say?

You may talk about the thing your word refers to, and nothing else. Treating it as a word rather than a thing is where people go wrong: saying it out loud or asking for it directly, and asking about spelling, letters or rhymes. Showing your screen to anyone is also out. And try not to announce that you are a citizen — once people start claiming a side, there is nothing left to search for.

Are the words rude or adult?

No. The words here come from six categories — food and drink, everyday life, fun and entertainment, love and relationships, school life, and a set written for kids. You can also play with words you write yourselves, in which case pick to suit the room.

How many players do you need? Can two people play?

From 3 to 50 players, or up to 20 in an online room. Two people cannot play. The game is about working out through conversation which one person was given a different word, and with two players the first disagreement settles it.

How long does one round take?

About five minutes. Five is the usual talk time for three or four players, and it grows by a minute or so as the group gets bigger. Only a tied vote adds anything — another 60 seconds, then a second vote.

Can we play with pen and paper?

You can, but two problems show up. Someone has to write the words, which takes them out of the game, and it is hard to look at your own slip without a neighbor catching it. One phone deals for everybody, so nobody has to sit out.

Is the imposter game free?

Yes. This site runs in the browser with no install, no account and no cost. The Word Wolf app is free too, and all 1,400+ words are included.

Read next

Now that the rules are settled, try the tips page — how to win as a citizen or as the wolf, and the questions worth opening with. The very first question you ask moves the odds more than anything else you do.