Insider Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Phases
  • 1. Q&A Phase
    • End of the Q&A Phase
  • 2. Discussion Phase
  • 3. Voting Phase
• Advanced Variant: There might be no Insider
  • If Q&A Failed
  • If Q&A Succeeded

Setup

1. Take 1 Insider Tile, 1 Master Tile and enough Common Tiles so that there's one Tile per player. Deal one Tile, face-down, to each player.
   • The Master and the Commons are competing against The Insider.
2. The Master announces their role and instructs everyone else to close their eyes.
   1. The Master shuffles the deck, then flips the top card.
   2. The Theme for the game is the word whose number matches the new top card.
3. The Master closes their eyes, instructs the Insider to open theirs and then counts to 5.
   1. The Insider looks at the Theme and then closes their eyes.
4. The Master opens their eyes and places the revealed card back on the deck, face-down, and covers the card's number with their Master Tile.
5. The Master instructs everyone to open their eyes and the game begins.

Phases

The Game is played over three Phases: Q&A, Discussion and Voting.

1. Q&A Phase

The Master flips the hourglass, (it has approximately 5 minutes of time).

• Any player may ask the Master any question, with the goal of finding the Theme.
• The Master may answer only: 'YES', 'NO' or 'I DON'T KNOW.'

The Insider needs to ask questions in such a way that they help lead the Commons to the correct answer, but don't make it obvious that they knew the Theme all along.

The Commons need to ask questions so-as to work out the Theme, but also in such a way that that they can work out who the Insider is.

End of the Q&A Phase

• Failure: If the hourglass runs out everyone loses and the game ends.
• Success: When a member of the Commons or the Insider correctly finds the Theme. This player is 'The Guesser.' The Master then flips the hourglass for the Discussion Phase.

2. Discussion Phase

All players, including the Master, discuss who they think the Insider might be.

The discussion ends when everyone is finished, or when the hourglass runs out.

3. Voting Phase

Vote #1: Judge the Guesser

Everyone, except the Guesser, votes on whether they think the Guesser was the Insider.

Tied votes are not majorities.

Is the Guesser the Insider?	If they are	If they are not
And the Majority says they are	Commons Win	Insider Wins
And the Majority says they are not	Insider Wins	Go to Vote #2

Vote #2: Find the Insider

The Master counts to 3, then everyone points at who they think the Insider is.

• If the player with the most votes is the Insider, the Master and Commons win.
• If the player with the most votes is not the insider, the Insider Wins.
• If there is a tie, the Guesser casts the deciding vote.

Advanced Variant: There might be no Insider

Before dealing the Role Tiles: Remove the Master Tile, swap one random Tile with one of the remaining Common Tiles. Keep the removed tile face-down.

Then return the Master Tile and deal out the Tiles as normal.

If Q&A Failed

1. Each player, excluding the Master, gives a one sentence defence as to why they could not be the Insider.
2. The Master then flips 1 Tile (a player's, or the removed tile), if it is the Insider, the Master and Commons win, if not, everyone loses.

If Q&A Succeeded

1. The Guesser looks at one Tile (another player's, or the removed tile). They may not show the tile to anyone, but may discuss it, truthfully or not.
2. Voting is as normal, except players may also vote that the removed Tile is the Insider by pointing at it.
3. If a player was the Insider, win conditions are as normal.
4. If the Removed Tile was the Insider & the majority vote it's a player, everyone loses. If a majority correctly votes the Tile was the Insider, everyone wins.