Impostor Game: Rules, a Round Step by Step, and Tips

The idea in one sentence

Everyone knows the word except one – find the impostor before they find the word.

You need at least three players; HowlNight’s Impostor mode supports 3 to 20. A round takes only a few minutes, so it works well as a warm-up or between longer games.

Setup

One secret word is chosen, together with its category, for example “Animals” and “Penguin”. Every player secretly learns the word – except the impostor. Depending on the version, the impostor sees nothing at all or only the category.

In HowlNight you simply pass the phone around: you hold the card to peek, let go, and it is hidden again. The impostor’s card says “You are the Impostor!”, everyone else sees the category and the word. Whether the impostor gets the category is a setting you can switch on or off.

A round step by step

• Deal: everyone looks at their card in secret and passes the device on.
• Clues: going around the circle, each player says exactly one word about the secret word. In HowlNight the starting player is never the impostor, so the impostor always gets to listen first.
• Discussion: talk about the clues. Who said something strangely general? Who hesitated?
• Vote: agree together on one player.
• Reveal: if the accused is not the impostor, the impostor wins the round.
• Last chance: if you caught the impostor, they may name the secret word. If they get it right, the impostor still wins.

The last-chance rule

This is what keeps the game balanced: a caught impostor can still win by guessing the word. So the group can’t just give obvious clues – if everyone says “ice”, “tuxedo” and “Antarctica”, the impostor will name the penguin even after being caught. Good clues are specific enough to show you know the word, but leave room for several answers.

Scoring

You can play single rounds just for fun, or keep score over several rounds. HowlNight uses this system and shows a ranking at the end:

• The group wins (impostor caught and the word not guessed): every player except the impostor gets 1 point.
• The impostor wins (not caught, or caught but guessed the word): every impostor gets 2 points.

Tips for the group

• Don’t be too obvious. Your word should prove you know it, not give it away.
• Think from the impostor’s side: with only the category in mind, which clue would they find useless?
• Pay attention to who repeats or slightly rephrases an earlier clue – that is a typical impostor move.
• Very general words like “nice” or “big” are suspicious. But a careful player may use them too.

Tips for the impostor

• Listen closely. Since the impostor never starts in HowlNight, you will always hear at least one clue first.
• Pick a word that fits several possible answers within the category.
• Stay calm in the discussion and ask questions yourself – the quietest player is often the first suspect.
• If you get caught, don’t give up: go back over all the clues and name the word that connects them.

Variants

A few settings change the game noticeably:

• Two impostors: from 7 players, HowlNight lets you play with two impostors. They don’t know each other, which makes the discussion a lot more chaotic.
• Without the category: switch off that the impostor sees the category. Bluffing gets harder, so this suits experienced groups.
• Discussion timer: set a limit of 1, 2, 3 or 5 minutes. When the time is up, it’s straight to the vote.
• Themed word packs: besides the free General pack (150 words in 15 categories), HowlNight has Food & Drink, Sports & Leisure and Travel & Places packs.

Playing it at your next party

You can play Impostor with paper slips, but someone has to pick the word and then knows it. In HowlNight the app picks the word and draws the impostor at random each round, so everyone plays. The Impostor mode is one of seven party games in the app, all on one phone that you pass around.