How to play Spysus
Everyone at the table is given the same secret location — except one person. They have to work out where everyone else is, before everyone else works out who they are. Three to twelve players, about ten minutes a round, nothing to install.
Start a game →What you need
Three players minimum, up to twelve. Each person needs their own device, because everyone's card has to stay private. If you are all in the same room and would rather not use several phones, Pass & Play deals every card on a single device instead — you hand it around and each person looks in turn.
Setting up a round
- One player creates a room and gets a six-character code plus an invite link.
- Everyone else joins with the link, the code, or by scanning the QR code on the host's screen.
- The host picks a location pack and how many rounds to play.
- The host starts the game, and everyone is dealt a card.
What is on your card
Almost everyone gets the same location — a bank, a submarine, a film set. One or more players instead get the spy card. The spy is not told the location, only the full list of locations the round could have drawn from.
That list matters. It is what lets the spy bluff: they can steer an answer toward something plausible, and if they work out the real location they can end the round by naming it.
How many spies you get
The number of spies follows the size of the group. You do not choose it.
| Players | Spies |
|---|---|
| 3–5 | 1 |
| 6–8 | 2 |
| 9 or more | 3 |
With two or three spies, they do not know each other. Two spies can accuse one another quite convincingly, which is usually how they get away with it.
Asking questions
Play moves round the table in a shuffled order. On your turn you ask any other player one question about the location, and they answer.
The whole game lives in this tension: your answer has to prove you know where you are, without telling the spy where that is. "Have you been here before?" is safe but proves nothing. "How long is the queue for the slides?" narrows it to about two places.
If you are the spy: answer confidently and generally, and pay attention to what other people take for granted. Nobody asks whether you are wearing shoes at the beach.
Questions that work well
- "What would you say the smell is like here?"
- "Would you bring a child here?"
- "Are you being paid to be here?"
- "What is the most expensive thing you can see?"
- "Is it louder than a normal room?"
Accusing someone
At any point, any player can accuse another. That opens a vote with a 30-second timer, and the accuser is counted as a yes automatically.
A vote passes on more than half of the eligible voters — everyone still in the round except the accused, who cannot vote on themselves. If it passes, that player's card is turned face up for everyone.
If a vote fails, play simply continues. There is no penalty for a failed accusation beyond what you gave away by making it.
How a round ends
A round finishes one of three ways:
- Every spy is voted out — the players win.
- An innocent player is voted out — the spies win immediately, even if a spy is still hidden.
- A spy names the location — a spy can guess at any time. Right, and the spies win; wrong, and the players do.
That second rule is what keeps the game honest. Accusing on a hunch is not free: get it wrong and you have handed the round away.
Scoring
| Outcome | Points |
|---|---|
| Spy guesses the location correctly | 4 to each spy |
| An innocent player is voted out | 3 to each spy |
| Every spy is caught | 2 to each non-spy |
| Spy guesses wrong | 2 to each non-spy |
Scores carry across rounds, and the final screen ranks everyone. Most groups play three to five rounds — long enough for someone to build a reputation, short enough to finish.
If someone drops out
Phones lock and connections drop. A player who disappears keeps their seat for ten minutes and can rejoin straight back into the round they were in. Spies are only ever dealt to players who are actually present, and a vote is cancelled rather than resolved if too few people are left to make it a real vote.
Common questions
Can you play with three people?
Yes, and it is a different game — one spy against two, with nowhere to hide. It is sharper but shorter. Five or six is the sweet spot.
Do you need to install anything?
No. It runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or laptop. There is no account and no sign-up; the room code is the only thing anyone needs.
Can you play in the same room?
Either way works. In person, everyone uses their own phone and talks out loud. Remote, put a video call on and play exactly the same. If you only have one device between you, use Pass & Play.
How long does a game take?
A round runs about five to ten minutes depending on how much everyone argues. Three rounds is a comfortable sitting.
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