Welcome to SPIES, a forum game!
You must find clues, form alliances, lie, sneak, cheat, and possibly even kill to defeat the enemy and be the last gaian standing.
Every game is free to play with gold prizes!
01. Welcome 02. Introduction & Thread Rules 03. Current Game Info 04. How to Play 05. Archives 06. Links 07. Mailing List 08. Links
Spies is a forum-based version of Mafia: the classic party game where two teams - the "townspeople" and the "spies" - try to outwit and eliminate each other. Everyone is secretly assigned to a team and role, and will take turns killing and voting people out in order to win. (For detailed rules, see the HOW TO PLAY post.)
Spies began during Gaia's 2007 Summer Festival, within Team Barton's home base. To spark our team spirit, we gathered together and hosted the first Spies game, where we pitted innocent Barton townspeople against evil, murderous spies from other towns. Even though the festival is long over, what began as a group of strangers is now a group of close friends.
Please join us - we hope that you'll stick around for a game or two (or three)!
The Common Room is for off-topic chatting between games. We don't actually play games in here. Each game will have a new thread created for it. (The current game is linked to in the post below!)
This forum game is a battle between 2 teams - the amiable TOWNSPEOPLE, and the murderous SPIES. The objective of both teams is to survive and eliminate each other. The game is won when one team is completely eliminated.
We have different themes which may change the rules. Go to the current game's thread to read the exact rules for that version.
Everyone is secretly assigned a role at the beginning of the game, determining what abilities they'll be able to use each round. Each round is made up of two phases - Day and Night - during which voting and killing occur. Rounds typically last 24 hours to give everyone enough time to show up and do their part.
D A Y
Each round begins with the "Day" phase. During this phase, a town meeting will be held, in which everybody votes to banish a player from the town. This is the townspeople's opportunity to get rid of the Spies, but the Spies can vote too and mislead the group. To vote, post the username of the player you want to banish in bold. The player with the most votes will be eliminated from the game. If there is a tied vote, no one will be banished.
N I G H T
After the Day banishment, the "Night" phase begins. During this phase, the people who are Spies will murder one townsperson, who will be eliminated from the game. The host will contact 1 spy via PM each Night and ask who he/she would like to kill. Other special roles may have night duties, such as the "Detective" or "Guard." More on that below.
E X A M P L E
Here's a quick pretend game. There are 8 players...6 townspeople, and 2 Spies.
NIGHT 0 - No one is eliminated this round. This is a prologue, if you will.
DAY 1 - Town meeting; all 8 players show up in the thread to vote and in the end Bob has the most votes. Bob is eliminated from the game. Bob was a townsperson. (7 players left)
NIGHT 1 - The Spies choose to kill Alice, who is eliminated from the game. Alice was a townsperson. (6 players left)
DAY 2 - Everyone votes in the thread again and Jane has the most votes. Jane is eliminated. Jane was a Spy. (5 players left)
NIGHT 2 - The Spies kill Thomas. (4 players left)
DAY 3 - Everyone votes out Bill. Bill was the last Spy. (3 players left) The townspeople win!
The game ends when all of the spies or all of the townspeople are eliminated.
At the beginning of each game, each player receives a PM with their randomly assigned role.
Not every role will be used in every game, depending on player count. In a 12-player game there will typically be 3 Spies, 1 Detective, and 8 Townspeople. In games with more players, there might be more Spies or a Guard, Rat, Bounty Hunter, or other roles.
N A R R A T O R
That's me. The narrator assigns roles, hosts the game, and announces the results of each round.
T O W N S P E O P L E
Normal townspeople lack powers but make up for that with sheer numbers. Their goal is to banish all of the Spies from their town by voting them off during the Day. TO WIN: 1) All spies must be eliminated.
D E T E C T I V E
The detective is a townsperson who can obtain "clues" from the narrator. They will start the game not knowing who the Spies are. Every round, I will PM the detective, who may send me 1 guess about who they think is a spy. I will answer with yes or no. TO WIN: All spies must be eliminated.
G U A R D
The guard is a townsperson with the ability to protect players from the Spies' attacks. During each Night phase, I will contact the guard via PM, who may send me the name of 1 player they'd like to protect (including themselves, if they want). That person cannot be eliminated by murder for that Night. The Guard gets to protect one person of their choice every night. TO WIN: All spies must be eliminated.
B O U N T Y . H U N T E R
The bounty hunter is a townsperson who has a gun with 1 bullet. At any point during the game, they may contact me via PM with the name of their target. The bounty hunter is allowed to kill 1 player only. TO WIN: All spies must be eliminated.
S P I E S
The spies are a group of players whose goal is to murder all of the townspeople. They blend in and vote with the townspeople by day, and secretly kill by night. During each Night phase, I will PM 1 spy and ask who they'd like to kill. The spies kill in rotation. Typically (depending on total player counter) there will be 3 spies in each game, so Spy A will kill the first night, Spy B will kill the second night, and Spy C will kill on the third night. Then back to Spy A, and so on. TO WIN: All townspeople must be eliminated.
R A T
The rat is an "evil detective" who works for the spies. The rat's job is nearly identical to the detective's job, except that they don't have the yes/no question handicap (i.e. the rat may ask me, "what is Sirius's job?" and I'll say "she's a spy".) However, the rat will start the game not knowing who the spies are. TO WIN: All townspeople must be eliminated.
L O V E R S
2 random players will be assigned as "lovers" for the game. This is a unique role that a player can have in addition to their main role (eg, "You are a Spy and a Lover."). These lovers can win together if both of them survive until end of the game, even if one is a spy and the other is a townsperson. This is the only way players from different teams can both win!
But keep your sweetheart close! If one lover is killed by Spies, the other will die of "heartbreak," and both Lovers are eliminated from the game.
However, if one lover is simply banished during the Day, the lovers' bond will be broken. The banished player will leave, and the surviving player will lose their Lover role (and simply be a townsperson/Spy/whatever they were assigned at the start of the game).
The Lovers know who their beloved is, but not their Lover's role (eg "You are lovers with Sirius." but not "You are lovers with Sirius, who is a Spy."). Lovers cannot vote for each other during town meetings. TO WIN: 1.) The lovers must be the only survivors. 2.) If one lover is banished, the surviving lover can win the normal way with their team (townspeople / spy).
01.You may not show anyone your official role assignment PM. 02.Anonymous messages (through gifts or mules) is not allowed. 03.Lying is a way of life. You can plot, frame, betray and kill your team mates, whatever it takes to get by, both in and outside of the thread. 04."Ghosts" - if you are eliminated from the game, you cannot continue to communicate with players and give clues. Some hosts will allow you to continue posting as long as you don't give hints, while other hosts won't. Either way, the best thing to do is come back here to the Spies Common Room! 05.Slack on the job, and you'll forfeit your turn. If you have a Night role (e.g. Spy/Guard/Detective) and miss your deadline, you forfeit the use of your abilities for that round. These are important roles - don't neglect them! 06.Miss 3 Days and you're out. Voting is an important part of the game. If you don't show up to vote for 3 days in a row, you will be automatically eliminated. You signed up, so actually play! 07.Absentee ballots, guesses, and kills will be accepted via PM to the game host. If you know you won't be online for a few days, you can PM me with your votes/guesses/kills in advance, and it won't count against you.
A gold prize will be awarded to the winning team, divided equally among the surviving members.
If 1 spy and 1 townsperson are the final survivors, a constellation prize will be given to the townsperson.
If you have any questions, go ahead and post them. For all the lying and murdering we do in our games, we're actually really nice people. We're happy to explain anything to you!
The Spies Database
A reference library with the various roles included in Spies games. Mostly here as reference for hosts.
Murder Is Just A Game An Art Contest Held By The Members of Spies. Going on 'till January, with 22mil in prizes - drop by! Over, thanks to all participants!
The Night of Death
An RP created by Renekai, based on the Spies storyline.
Barton Night Owls
The original 2007 summer event thread that eventually turned into Spies. (Just here for archival purposes.)
Original Common Room
The original 2007 common room by our founder Sirius Silverstar / Waltz for Luma. It reached over 1,500 pages before we decided to remake it with a mule so we could all edit the first page as needed. (Just here for archival purposes.)
Want to be notified when we're starting a new game? Then join the mailing list!
Please FRIEND THE MULE to sign up! If you are not on Murder is Just a Game's friend list, then we have to PM you one by one. Going through 20 people, with gaia's anti-spam PM lag... well, it takes a long, long, boring time. Everyone who friends the mule will be automatically added to the Mailing List.
If you don't want to play anymore, just let us know and stop sending you PMs right away. We don't want to spam you! Bolded names are irregular players who we should definitely PM. Other names are people who are interested in playing but have probably heard of it already anyway.
Renekai
zaeinn whirk_quimzy
Kihaze Moraku
meowmeowkitty
the Red Pocky Box
LynnRyuujin
ginger who is green HitmanForYou Zvarri
Kyorukki MusicalDragons Lady Artichoke Aku_Kodoku Huckleberry Sawyer Touch My Buns Asura Style Clockw0rkz Rallaa jellieq Moon Flower Aimie reviali Riskette Mr Vanilla Milkshakes HaloRecoil Minerva de Sade xiumi Kyo Umerio Rian-chan TyrannosRAWRus Rex badtzmaru Pink C a n a r y Panty Snatcher wicked1one11!! MaiaFavnir Qixel Smecksy Marcosiu Simfasa Elskeleton Sir_Catherine
