Guide
Undercover, dealt on your phones
Who Is Undercover is the Chinese party favourite: most players share a secret word, one or two get a close one, and nobody knows which side they're on. The fiddly part is dealing the words. Let every phone receive its own and the whole table gets to play.
Three ways to deal the words
| Slips of paper | One phone passed around | A phone each | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who picks the words | One person, who then can't play | One person, or an app | The word list: everyone plays |
| Can someone peek | Slips get seen | Easy to glimpse while passing it | Your word is only on your phone, shown while you hold it |
| Voting | Hands up, everyone sees who voted for whom | Hands up or out loud | Secret, only the counts are shown |
| At the end | Someone has to remember who was undercover | Same | Both words and every role are revealed |
How it works on partygame
1. Open a room
One person opens partygame, picks Undercover and creates a room.
2. Join with the QR code
Everyone scans the code or types the room code and a nickname. The host plays too.
3. Pick the word language
English, Simplified or Traditional Chinese. A mixed-language group can pick Universal: each player sees the same pair in their own language.
4. Describe and vote
Hold to see your word, take turns describing it out loud without saying it, then everyone votes in secret on their phone.
The game
Play it here
Undercover
Most players share a word, the undercover gets a close one, and nobody is told which side they're on. 4–6 players have one undercover, 7–10 have two. There's also an Impostor mode (a Plus setting, free in every room during Early Access): everyone but the impostor knows the secret word, and a caught impostor wins by guessing it.
- Players
- 4–10
- Length
- 5–15 min
- You need
- A phone each; a big screen is optional
- Who runs it
- The phones
- Knocked out?
- Yes in Classic; out players watch
Good for Any gathering: the rules take a minute, and each language has 200 hand-written word pairs.
Not for Groups who want to play from different homes: the describing happens around one table.
What's different from the paper version
No blank player
Classic Undercover only deals two kinds of word. For a player who doesn't know the word, pick Impostor mode.
Secret votes
Only the number of votes each player got is shown, not who voted for whom.
One revote on a tie
A tie for most votes is revoted among the tied players; a second tie means nobody is out this round.
No quick repeats
Words used in the room's last 5 games aren't drawn again.
Questions
Do I need to install an app?
No. partygame runs in the browser: scan the QR code or type the room code to join.
How many players?
4–10, in the same place. 4–6 players have one undercover, 7–10 have two.
Is it free?
Yes. Every game is free to play in full. No room shows real ads today; free rooms may later get one ad slot in the phone lobby, the final results and an idle big screen, never during play.
How many words are there?
200 hand-picked pairs each in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, plus 200 Universal pairs that work across languages.
Can we play from different homes?
No. partygame's Undercover is played face to face: only the dealing and the voting are online, and the describing happens around the table.
Everyone in the same room?
partygame is for playing face to face, not online matchmaking: each phone keeps your secret and counts the votes, the talking happens at the table. Open a table in the browser, free, no app.