Spy at the Location

about this tool

How to play

Spy at the Location is a party game of questions for three to sixteen people round one phone. Type the names in the order the phone will go round, choose the spies and the minutes, and deal.

The phone goes to each player in turn, who looks at their card alone and hides it before passing it on. Everyone is at the same place — a hospital, a cricket stadium, a dhaba on the highway — with a part to play there: the nurse, the commentator, the truck driver. Everyone, that is, except the spy, whose card says only you are the spy.

When the last card is hidden the clock starts, and the page names who asks the first question. They ask anyone at the table anything — "How long have you been here?", "What would you never do here?" — and whoever answers asks the next, to anyone but the player who just asked them. The trick for everyone but the spy is to answer so the others can tell you have been there, without saying so plainly the spy can work it out. The trick for the spy is to sound as though they know exactly where they are.

How a round ends

• A vote. Any time the table suspects someone, tap Vote someone out. On three, everyone points at who they think is a spy, and you tap the player pointed at most. A spy: the others win. Anyone else: the spy wins. A tie means pointing again between the tied players; if the table cannot agree at all, carry on asking. The page asks you to confirm the name before it shows anything, so a slip of the finger can be put right.
• The spy names the place. A spy who thinks they know taps I am the spy, then their name, then the place. Right: the spy wins. Wrong: the others win. The claim is binding and nothing is shown until the place is tapped, so it cannot be used to test who the spy is — and anyone who claims to be the spy but is not hands the real spy the win. The vote waits while a spy is choosing.
• The clock runs out. Then the table takes the vote.

At the end the page shows the place, the spies, and everyone's part. The score of rounds won by the spies and by everyone else carries on until you change the players, and every round deals a new place and new spies.

The places

Fifty places, all written for this page, each with six parts: everyday spots such as a bank, a school and a market; places from Indian life such as a dhaba, an auto-rickshaw stand, a village fair and a Diwali night; and a few further off, from a houseboat to a lighthouse. A place does not come round again until all fifty have been played, and the full list is on screen while the questions run, for the spy to narrow down — and for everyone else to watch the spy doing it.

With more players than parts, parts repeat, but only after all six have been dealt. With two spies, neither knows who the other is.

Fair and private

The place, the spies and who asks first are drawn with the browser's cryptographic randomness, the same fair draw as the random picker. A card is in the page only while its player is looking at it. Nothing is stored or sent, and the screen is kept awake while the clock runs.

For a game where the odd one out has a different word rather than no place, try Undercover; for hidden roles and a night phase, Mafia.

questions

How do you play Spy at the Location?

The phone goes round and each player looks at their card alone. Everyone is at the same place — a hospital, say — and has a part there, such as the nurse or the patient, except the spy, whose card says only that they are the spy. Then players take turns asking each other questions about the place. Answer so the others know you have been there, but not so plainly the spy works it out.

How does a round end?

Three ways. Any time, the table can vote: everyone points at once and you tap who was pointed at most; if that is a spy the others win, and if not the spy wins. A spy can stop the game to name the place: right, the spy wins; wrong, the others win — and a player who claims to be the spy but is not hands the spy the win, so the claim cannot be used to test anyone. And when the clock runs out, the table takes that vote.

Who asks first, and who asks next?

The page picks someone to ask the first question, to anyone they like. Whoever answers asks the next question, to anyone but the player who just asked them. Questions can be about anything — "How often do you come here?", "What are you wearing?" — so long as the answer does not give the place away.

How many players, and how many spies?

Three to sixteen on one phone. One spy suits most tables; from eight players the page suggests two, and you can choose two from six. Two spies do not know who the other is, and either can name the place.

How many places are there?

Fifty, from a railway station and a wedding to a dhaba and a houseboat, each with six parts to play, all written for this page. A place does not come round again until every one has been played, and the full list is on screen during the questions so the spy can narrow it down — as can everyone else.

Is anything saved or sent?

No. The place, the spies and the first to ask are drawn with your browser’s cryptographic randomness, a card is only on screen while its player looks, and nothing is stored or sent. The screen is kept awake while the clock runs. Reloading or leaving the page ends the game.