Serious faces. Ridiculous answers.
How to host a Bluff It! game night
The host creates the room, starts each round and presses reveal, but also plays like everyone else. This guide covers what to settle before you create the room and how to keep a table of four to eight people moving without a timer.
4–8 players · 40–60 minutes · Ages 13+ · Free, no download or account
What the host does, and does not do
As host you create the room, share the invite, start every round, press reveal, move the table on after each reveal and decide when to skip a round. You are still a player: the game can give you the Genius, the Honest One or a Bluffer in any round, and you do not see anyone else’s role. Who speaks first and who gets selected are decided by that round’s Genius, not by the host as such. The host role cannot be handed to someone else, and if you close the room it ends for everyone.
Before you create the room
Each player needs their own phone with a browser and an internet connection; there is nothing to download and no account to create. Seat people where they can hear one another and cannot read each other’s screens. No shared screen or TV is needed. Count your players, yourself included: you need four to start a round, and a room holds at most eight. A full room cannot take a ninth person, even to watch. With nine or more, split into two rooms, each with its own host and at least four players, seated far enough apart not to overhear each other.
Choose the target score before you start
The target is 3 points by default. You can set any whole number from 1 to 10 when you create the room, under “Game settings”, where it is labelled “Points to win”; it cannot be changed afterwards. Nobody can gain more than one point in a round, so a game takes at least as many rounds as the target, and more whenever points are shared around the table or the top score is tied. As a rough estimate from the scoring rules, not from timed play, a game to 3 points takes about 4 or 5 rounds with four players and 6 to 8 with eight, while a game to 10 takes about 20 rounds with four players and 30 to 40 with eight. Bluff It! is designed around a game of about 40–60 minutes, but rounds are untimed, so the real length depends on your target, your group size and how much your table talks. If time is short, choose a lower target, or simply stop after any reveal.
Agree on the table rules first
Before the first round, agree three things out loud: phones go down once speaking begins, nobody looks the answer up, and the Honest One and the Bluffers keep their roles to themselves until the reveal. The speaking screen reminds everyone to put their phones down and not to look up the answer, but the app does not lock anyone’s phone. Keeping to it is an agreement between the people at the table.
Teach it by playing a round
You do not need to read the rules aloud. Once the table rules are agreed, tell everyone three things: one player will know the real answer, one player will try to work out who that is, and everyone else makes something up. Then start a round and let each phone show its owner what to do. The first round counts like any other; there is no practice mode. Use its reveal to explain the scoring: the screen shows the Honest One, the answer and who gained a point. If the Genius chose correctly, the Genius and the Honest One each gained one; if not, the Bluffer they selected did.
Keep the pace without a timer
Preparation, speaking and discussion are all untimed, and the Genius decides when each stage moves on. That suits a relaxed table, but a hesitant Genius can stall a round, and a gentle “ready to choose?” from the host helps. Once the Genius has chosen, let the selected player have a last word and then reveal. After the reveal, tap “Talk it over”, let the table enjoy the result, and start the next round when the conversation dips.
When someone leaves, arrives late or a prompt does not fit
A player cannot give up their own seat: someone who has gone home still holds a place and can still be given a role. If a round stalls because the Genius has left, skip it. In the lobby and between rounds you can remove a player with the “Remove” button; it is not available while a round is in progress. A removed player loses their points, and can rejoin with the invite link or room code on zero. Latecomers can no longer scan the lobby QR code once the game has started, so give them the room code at the top of your screen; they watch the current round and play from the next. If a prompt does not suit your group, skip the round: no points are awarded, the answer is not revealed, and you can start another.
Ending the game
When one player leads alone at or above the target, the reveal offers “See final result” and the game is over. “Play again with this table” resets every score and returns the room to the lobby, where you can remove or add players before starting again. When you close the room, everyone is sent back to the home screen and the room code stops working.
On the night
The host’s run sheet
Create the room
Enter a nickname and pick an emoji. Open “Game settings” to change the points needed to win or the question language.
Share the invite
Send the link, read out the six-digit room code or show the QR code.
Wait for four players
You need four to start. The room accepts up to eight.
Brief the table
Agree the table rules, then explain the three roles in a sentence each.
Start the round
Each phone shows its owner a private role. The Genius takes over from here.
Reveal, then move on
After the Genius has chosen, press reveal. Tap “Talk it over”, then “Host starts next round” when the table is ready.
Finish or play again
The game ends when one player leads alone at or above the target. “Play again with this table” starts over with every score at zero.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the target score after creating the room?
No. The target is set when the room is created and stays the same, including when you play again with the same table. To use a different target, create a new room.
What if someone leaves in the middle of a game?
Their seat stays taken and they can still be given a role. Skip the round if it is stuck, then remove them on the between-rounds screen so the game can continue without them.
Does a removed player keep their points?
No. Removing a player deletes their score. They can rejoin with the invite link or room code, start from zero and play from the next round.
Can more than eight people play?
Not in one room. A room is full at eight players and cannot take a ninth, even as a spectator. Larger groups can split into two rooms, each with its own host and at least four players.
Can someone else take over as host?
No. The player who created the room stays its host. If the host goes back to the home screen, the app asks whether to close the room for everyone.
Got four people and four phones?
Share the link, wait for four players and start your first round.