Welcome to the World of Hoax!

Hey there, fellow game enthusiasts! I wanted to take a moment to talk to you all about an incredibly exciting and unique game called Hoax. Let me tell you, once you start playing, you won’t be able to put it down!

So, what’s all the fuss about? Well, Hoax is a game that’s all about deception and deduction. It’s like a whirlwind of twists and turns that keeps you guessing at every step. You’ll have to use your wit and cunning to unravel the truth and outsmart your opponents.

Now, let’s dive into the intriguing world of Hoax and its stunning rules. First things first: it’s all about bluffing and deceit. The goal is simple – convince your opponents that you’re telling the truth, even when you’re not! You’ll need to carefully craft your lies and strategically choose your targets. Keep your poker face on, and don’t give away your secrets!

In Hoax, players take on the roles of daring characters with their own unique abilities. Will you be the cunning spy who can uncover other player’s lies? Or perhaps the clever magician who can change the truth at will? The choice is yours, and each character brings a new layer of excitement to the game.

At the heart of Hoax lies a fascinating mechanic known as the “Accusation Dial.” This nifty device allows players to point fingers and make their accusations. It’s a little intimidating, I know, but it adds an extra layer of suspense and strategy to the game. With each accusation, the tension rises, and you’ll find yourself second-guessing everyone’s every move.

But here’s the kicker – the Accusation Dial can turn against you. It’s a double-edged sword, my friends. If you’re caught in a web of lies, be prepared for the consequences. Your reputation will take a hit, and you’ll have to work even harder to regain your fellow players’ trust. It’s a true test of your deceitful skills.

I hope you’re ready to embark on a thrilling journey into the mysterious world of Hoax! Remember, it’s all about the art of illusion, the thrill of deceit, and the exhilaration of outsmarting your opponents. So gather your friends, unbox your game, and let the games begin. Good luck, and may the best liar win!

Hoax is this really cool game that you can play with your friends. It’s perfect for 3 to 6 people who want to have a great time pretending to be someone else.

Each player in the game has a secret identity, and the goal is to figure out who the other players are, while also trying to trick them into thinking you’re someone else. It’s all about deception and deduction.

The best part is, the game is a race to see who can be the last player standing. Whoever is left at the end is the winner!

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Game Components

• 7 Character Cards
• 7 Suspicion Cards
• 6 Reference Sheets
• 1 Hoax Card
• 25 Imposter Tokens
• 27 Resource Tokens
• Instructions

Setting Up the Game

To get the game ready, just follow these steps:

1. Create the Supply: Take the tokens and separate them by type. Put them in the middle of the playing area. Also, put the hoax card in the middle of the playing area.
2. Give Out the Reference Sheets: Each player should get a reference sheet.
3. Deal the Character Cards: Shuffle the character cards and give one to each player. Put the rest of the character cards face down in the game box since they won’t be used in this game. You can look at your character card, but don’t show it to anyone else.

Getting Started with the Game

Before we start playing, there are a few important steps to follow:

1. Mix Up the Suspicion Cards: Take the suspicion cards and shuffle them, then place them face down in the middle of the playing area.
2. Find Out the First Player: The youngest player will go first and take the first turn.
3. Get Your Starting Resources: Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player can choose one resource token from the supply and put it in their own play area.

Character Cards

Each player will receive a character card at the beginning of the game. The character card has a name and picture of a character, which represents your identity. You can look at your character card anytime you want, but remember, don’t show it to the other players!

Welcome to the World of Hoax!

Hey there! I want to tell you all about this amazing game called Hoax. The game is all about uncovering secrets and using your wits to outsmart your opponents. Let’s dive in and learn how to play!

In the game of Hoax, each player tries to figure out who the other players are, all while keeping their own identity a secret. Pretty sneaky, right? To do this, you’ll need to gather resources and use them wisely.

Hoax is played in turns, with each player taking their time to make their moves. The first player starts, and then everyone goes clockwise until we have a winner. Exciting, isn’t it?

What Can You Do?

When it’s your turn, you have three actions you can take. You can do them in any order you like:

Claim: This is when you declare that you are a character and use that character’s special power, which we like to call a privilege. It’s your chance to show off your secret abilities!

#image.jpg A Special Privilege

• Find Out: I can learn information about who you are.
• Guess: I can try to figure out your identity. If I’m right, one of us gets eliminated.

Every turn, I have to make one claim, I can make as many investigations as I want, and I can only make one guess.

Some characters have a special immunity. You’ll see it on the reference sheet. It’s best to understand the basic rules before using immunities.

Making Claims

When I want to take a specific action in the game, I have to declare that I am a certain character. I can do this by saying “I am the” or “as the” followed by the character’s name. For example, if I want to be the Gardener, I would say “I am the Gardener.” When I declare myself as a character, I can then use that character’s special ability.

Each character in the game has their own special ability. You can find these abilities listed on the reference sheet for each character. These abilities allow players to get resources that they can use to pay for investigations.

There are three different types of resources in the game, and each one is represented by a different token:

If a special right tells me to grab a resource token, I can go ahead and take one from the supply, unless there’s a different rule in play.

Example: When it was my turn, I decided to pretend to be the Butler. So, I confidently announced, “I’m the Butler, and I’m going to help myself to some cash.” I took one cash token from the supply. Meanwhile, my friend Ben, who wasn’t fooled by my act, decided to take one prestige token. That’s how my turn as the Butler ended.

You see, during the game, any player can claim to be any character, even if it doesn’t match their character card. However, that’s considered a false claim.

If the other players suspect that someone is making a false claim, they have the option to call them out and try to expose them as an imposter.

Now, let’s talk about the investigate action. This action allows a player to find out more about another player’s identity. It’s like being a detective, gathering information and uncovering secrets. The investigate action adds an exciting twist to the game, making it even more thrilling.

In order to investigate, I have to spend one resource of each type. To spend a resource, I take it from my play area and put it back in the supply.

Once I’ve spent my resources, I choose another player to investigate. This player will need to give me a clue about their identity using the suspicion deck.

First, the chosen player takes the suspicion deck and removes the card that matches their character card. Then, they randomly remove three more cards from the deck.

They can look at these four cards, but they can’t show them to anyone else. After looking, they shuffle the cards and pass them to me, without revealing them.

When I’m playing the game, I get to look at four cards and one of them has the identity of the person we’re trying to find out. But I can’t tell anyone what those cards are. After I take a look, I mix the cards back into the deck and put it in the middle of the playing area.

If I have enough tokens, I can investigate multiple times in one turn. That means I can try to find out the same person’s identity more than once.

Accuse

When I want to make a guess about someone else’s identity, I can do that with the accuse action. I pick someone and make my guess secretly.

So here’s how it works: I’m the active player, and I want to figure out who you are. First, I need to grab the suspicion deck and find the card that matches the identity I suspect you have. Once I’ve picked that card, I’ll give it to you face-down.

Now it’s your turn to look at the card I gave you. If it matches your identity, you have to say “Yes” but be careful not to reveal who you are to the other players. If you do say “Yes,” that means you’re out of the game, and I get all your resource tokens. But don’t worry, any imposter tokens you have stay on your reference sheet.

If the card I gave you doesn’t match your identity, you have to say “No.” In that case, I’m the one who’s out of the game, and I have to give back all my resource and imposter tokens.

When I perform the action, I have to shuffle all suspicion cards and put the suspicion deck back in the middle of the play area. On my turn, I can accuse one player. And if someone gets eliminated, they can’t tell anyone who they really are.

Here’s How to Investigate

So, it’s my turn now, and I want to dig into Bill’s business. I spend one cash, one prestige, and one evidence token from my play area and put them back in the supply.

Now that I’ve paid for the investigation, Bill takes the suspicion deck and removes his identity card called “The Son-in-Law,” along with three other random cards. He does this secretly, of course.

Bill takes a look at the four cards he removed, shuffles them up, and passes them facedown to me. I take a peek, shuffle them back into the suspicion deck, and put it back in the center of the play area.

The Hoax Call

Hold on a sec! While someone is making a claim, any other player can interrupt by calling “Hoax!” out loud, and they need to put the hoax card in their play area.

So here’s what happens: I’m in the middle of making my claim, but I hit pause. Why? Well, it’s because you and the rest of the gang need to weigh in and decide if I’m telling the truth or not.

And let me tell ya, once the discussion starts, everyone, except for me, has to vote. No exceptions.

But, there’s a catch. You can’t yell “hoax” if the hoax card is already in your pile. So, if you’ve already called out a hoax once, you can’t do it again.

Time to Vote

Alright, we’ve had our chat. Now it’s time to vote. Here’s how it goes down: everyone, except me, puts their hand up over their play area and makes a fist. Then, I say “Vote!” and we all do a thumbs-up or thumbs-down at the same time.

If you think I’m lying, give me a thumbs-down. But if you believe me, go ahead and give me a thumbs-up.

The thing is, when someone in the game calls out a hoax, they have some important decisions to make. Let me break it down for you:

– Thumbs Down: If most of the votes are thumbs down, the active player has to admit whether they were telling the truth or lying about their claim.

– Thumbs Up: If the majority of votes are thumbs up or if there’s a tie, the active player gets to keep going with their claim.

Now, let’s talk about what happens depending on whether the claim was true or false:

– Truthful Claim: If the active player was actually telling the truth and their claim matches their character card, they reveal their card and win the game on the spot.

– False Claim: If the active player was lying and their claim doesn’t match their character card, the game continues and it’s time for the next player to make a move.

Imagine this scenario: you’re playing a game with your friends, and someone is making a claim that you suspect is false. What do you do? Well, if you catch someone in a lie, you can expose them by using a special card called the “hoax.” Here’s how it works:

Let’s say it’s Jessica’s turn, and she confidently declares that she is the Son-in-Law character. The Son-in-Law has a special ability that allows them to choose a type of resource and take one of that resource from every other player.

But Baxter, being a keen observer, is skeptical of Jessica’s claim. He suspects that she’s not really the Son-in-Law. So, he takes out the hoax card and puts it in front of him. Then, he boldly declares, “Hoax!”

At this point, the game pauses, and everyone starts discussing whether they think Jessica is telling the truth or not. The tension rises as the players engage in a lively debate.

Once the discussion is over, it’s time to vote. Baxter takes charge and says, “Vote!” All players, including Jessica, simultaneously show their opinion by either giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down gesture.

After counting the votes, it becomes clear that the majority of players have given a thumbs-down gesture, indicating disbelief in Jessica’s claim. It’s now Jessica’s turn to reveal the truth. She admits that she was indeed making a false claim.

To hold her accountable for her deception, Jessica takes an imposter token and places it over the “Son-in-Law” name on her reference sheet. This token serves as a reminder that she cannot claim to be the Son-in-Law for the rest of the game.

With her imposter token in place, Jessica’s claim action ends abruptly, and the game resumes as normal. The other players will now be more cautious about trusting her claims in the future.

Game Over

We keep playing until the game is over, and there are two ways that can happen:

• When all but one player has been eliminated, the last surviving player wins.
• If a vote confirms that a player’s claim is true, that player is declared the winner.

Once the game ends, everyone reveals their true identities by flipping their character cards face-up. They also return any resource and imposter tokens they have to the supply.