How many people can play?

The Art of Deception is for 4 to 8 players at one table.

How long does a game take?

Plan on about 15 min together at the table.

Do I need an account?

No. Pick a username, create or join a table, and play this online board game in the browser. Nothing to download.

How do I invite friends?

Create a table, then send the invite link. Friends open it in the browser, choose a name, and sit down.

Ready to play

The Art of Deception

Cut the wires. Trust no one. Save the Wall, or bring it down.

Min players: 4
Max players: 8
Average time: 15 min

Description

Genghis Khan and his men mean to bring down the Great Wall. Sun Tzu and his men must find every defuse wire before someone cuts the Wall itself. Roles stay secret. Each round the cutter picks one face-down wire from another player. Find all the defuses to save the Wall. Cut the Great Wall, or run out of four rounds, and it falls.

How to play

A hidden-role table. Talk, bluff, and cut other people's wires, never your own. You only see your role and, once per round, a short peek at the wires in front of you.

There are four rounds. Each round the cutter picks one face-down wire from someone else. That card flips in place. The person who was cut becomes the next cutter. After as many cuts as there are players, leftover uncut wires are dealt again, one fewer each.

Roles

Everyone is secretly Sun Tzu or Genghis Khan. One extra role is discarded unseen, so the table cannot be sure of the split.

Sun Tzu

Find every defuse wire. The Great Wall stands.

Genghis Khan

Cut the Great Wall, or survive four rounds. The Great Wall falls.

The wires

Five wires in front of each player at the start. There is always one Great Wall. Defuses equal the player count. The rest are duds.

Hidden
Face down until someone cuts it. After the peek, even you do not know which back is which.

Great Wall
The charge. Cut this and it explodes. Genghis Khan wins at once.

Questions

How many people can play?: The Art of Deception is for 4 to 8 players at one table.
How long does a game take?: Plan on about 15 min together at the table.
Do I need an account?: No. Pick a username, create or join a table, and play this online board game in the browser. Nothing to download.
How do I invite friends?: Create a table, then send the invite link. Friends open it in the browser, choose a name, and sit down.