The Traitors Card Game
The Traitors Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Length of Play
For best results:
- 4 players, play 3 or 4 rounds
- 5 to 6 players, play 2 or 3 rounds
- 7 to 8 players, play 1 or 2 rounds.
Keep a running tally of each player's Gold score at the end of each round.
Set Up
- Put the Event Selector cards aside. You only need these if you don't have Internet access.
- Give each player a Player Number card. For 4 players use Number cards 1 to 4; for 5 players use Number cards 1 to 5, and so on. Place your Number card face up on the table in front of you – this is your player number for the game.
- Prepare the Game Deck. Put the Traitor, Event and Final Banishment cards aside then shuffle the rest of the Game Deck cards. Deal 3 cards from the Game Deck face down to each player. Shuffle the Traitor card back into the Game Deck then slot in the Event cards at roughly regular intervals. Put the Deck face down in the middle of the table and place the Final Banishment card at the bottom of the pile.
- Allocate player roles. Select the same number of Role cards as there are players – you must include the Traitor card; all the rest will be Faithful. Shuffle the selected Role cards and deal 1 face down to each player. Look at your Role card to see if you are a Faithful or a Traitor. Keep your card hidden and your identity secret!
- Scan this QR code. Select the number of players on-screen to access digital game features used when an Event card is drawn. Keep the QR code card on the table for quick access.
- Grab a pen and some paper to keep score. You're ready to play... trust no one!
Repeat SET UP (including all cards discarded during play) before each new round.
If you don't have Internet access, see NON-DIGITAL PLAY at the end of the rules.
Components
- Player Number cards (×8): numbered 1 to 4 shown, one per player.
- Game Deck cards (×60):
- Traitor (1)
- Event (8)
- Final Banishment (1)
- Dagger (6)
- Shield (4)
- Gold (40), in values of 1, 2, 3 and 5
- Role cards (×8): Faithful (×7 shown) and Traitor (×1).
- Event Selector cards (×8, for non-digital play): Quiet Night, Banishment and Murder, plus one QR code card (×1) for accessing digital gameplay.
How to Play
Take turns in a clockwise direction. The player to the left of the dealer goes first. On your turn:
- Draw the top card from the Game Deck. If it's an Event card, play it immediately (see how below). If it's any other card, add it to your hand.
- Play a card from your hand if you want to (see how below).
- Discard down to 3 cards if you have more than 3 left in your hand. Gold cards must go into the shared prize fund; all other cards go onto a separate discard pile and can't be used again until the next round.
Watch your opponents' every move; their actions may give away their role... so be sure to call out any strange behaviour, and make sure you don't arouse suspicion yourself!
Event Cards
When an Event card is drawn, play it immediately.
The player who draws the Event card presses EVENT on-screen* and 1 of the 3 events – MURDER, BANISHMENT or QUIET NIGHT – will appear.
*For non-digital play, see the Non-Digital Play section.
Quiet Night
You can all sleep easy. Return to the main screen on your device and continue the round with the player who drew the Event card drawing again and taking their turn as normal.
Murder
Take turns to secretly press a button on-screen.
If you are a Faithful you must press the letter F, then DONE to confirm it. If you are a Traitor, press the number of the player you wish to murder, then DONE to confirm it. A Traitor can't press their own number, but if they know there's another Traitor in the game they can choose to murder them. If there are 2 Traitors in play, only the first Traitor's murder attempt counts.
Observe your opponents closely for signs of treachery!
The player who drew the Event card then presses MURDER REVEAL, revealing the victim's player number on-screen.
If the victim has a Shield card they can play it to protect themselves and survive the murder attempt.
If they don't have a Shield they are out of the round and must reveal their hand of cards. Any Gold cards must be added to the shared prize fund and all other cards discarded. Lastly, they must show their Role card and reveal whether they were a Faithful or a Traitor.
Banishment
Openly discuss around the table who you suspect of being a Traitor. Who can you trust and who's behaving suspiciously? What do your opponents think, and can you believe anything they say? This is the time for speculation and deliberation!
Then take turns to write the name or number of the player you suspect, and wish to banish, on-screen and press CAST VOTE.
When all players have voted, take turns to press REVEAL VOTE, starting with the player who voted first.
The player with most votes is banished from the round. If there's no majority, press TIED VOTE? and replay the vote – this time voting only for the tied players. Repeat as necessary until you have a majority.
When a player is banished, they are out of the round and must reveal their hand of cards. Any Gold cards must be added to the shared prize fund and all other cards discarded. Lastly, they must show their Role card and reveal whether they were a Faithful or a Traitor.
After a murder or banishment, return to the main screen on your device. The player who drew the Event card draws again and takes their turn as normal. If they were eliminated during the Event, resume with the player on their left.
If a Traitor is banished, players may agree to end the round if everyone believes all Traitors have been eliminated.
Ending a Round
A round ends when only 2 players remain, all players have agreed that the Traitors have been eliminated, or when you reach the Final Banishment card.
If the Final Banishment card is drawn, press the corresponding button on-screen and carry out a final banishment to end the round.
When a round has ended all surviving players take turns to show their Role card, revealing whether they were a Faithful or a Traitor.
Gold Cards
Gold cards can be played on to a pile in the middle of the table – this is the shared prize fund and players who survive the round may win some or all of this Gold.
If a player survives a round, any Gold cards in their hand are added to their personal score.
Traitor Card
Drawing the Traitor card is the Traitor's attempt to recruit you – you can either accept or reject it.
If you accept, you become a Traitor and must keep the card secretly in your hand for the rest of the round. You cannot discard it and it cannot be stolen. You now have the power to attempt murder during a Murder event.
If you wish to remain Faithful, reveal the Traitor card immediately and discard it to show you have rejected the Traitor's attempt to recruit you. The discarded Traitor card is out of play for the rest of the round.
If you were allocated the role of Traitor at the start of the game, you must discard this card.
Dagger Cards
A Dagger card can be used to blackmail another player, giving you valuable insight. To blackmail someone, name them and demand they show you their hand of cards. You may take a card if you want – but you can't take the Traitor card. If you see the Traitor card in another player's hand you will have useful information, but may be at greater risk when they next attempt murder!
You must not tell anyone what cards another player holds – it's your secret.
If you take a Dagger card from a player's hand during blackmail you can use it, immediately if you wish, to blackmail them again or to blackmail another player.
Once used, a Dagger card must be discarded.
Shield Cards
Shield cards protect a player from a murder attempt. They do not protect from banishment or blackmail. If someone tries to murder you, reveal this card to block the attack. You survive the murder attempt and continue to play.
Once used, a Shield card must be discarded.
Scoring
Gold in players' hands: When the round ends all surviving players add any Gold cards in their hand to their personal score.
The prize fund: If only Faithful players remain, they split the Gold in the prize fund equally.
If any Traitors remain, they win all the Gold for themselves (split evenly if 2 Traitors survive).
If the amount of Gold in the prize fund will not split evenly, discard 1 Gold card and divide the rest.
Make a note of players' scores (hand + share of prize fund) after each round, ready to tally at the end of the game.
Winning
The player with the most Gold, after the agreed number of rounds has been played, wins the game.
Non-Digital Play
- You will need some paper (cut into equal-sized slips), the Event Selector cards and a pen or pencil each – all the same colour to avoid revealing the Traitor's identity.
- Shuffle the Event Selector cards and place them face down in a pile on the table.
- When an Event card is drawn during play, take the top card from the Event Selector deck to select the event.
Quiet Night: Play continues peacefully with the player who drew the Event card drawing another card from the Game Deck and taking their turn as normal.
Murder: Each take a slip of paper. If you are a Faithful, secretly write F on your slip. If you are a Traitor, secretly write the number of the player you wish to murder. All fold your slips in half at the same time, then throw them into the game box.
The player who drew the Event card then opens the paper slips 1 at a time and shows them to the group. If a number is revealed, that player is murdered and is out of the round (unless they can defend themselves with a Shield), and the remaining slips are discarded unopened to avoid revealing whether there are other Traitors in the game. Murdered players discard their cards and reveal their role.
Banishment: Openly discuss who you think the Traitor or Traitors are before each writing down the name of the player you suspect and wish to banish on a slip of paper. Take turns to show the name you wrote down. The player with the most votes is banished from the round. If there is no majority, replay the vote – but this time you can only vote for 1 of the tied players. Keep replaying as necessary until there is a majority. Banished players discard their cards and reveal their role.