Insider Games with Zoom

• insider game originally published at
• There is one “master” who knows the “subject.”
  • The subject is, for example, “Middle School.”
• Other players ask the master, “Is that food? Is it a building? and other “yes/no” questions to the master, aiming to guess the subject.
• There is one “insider” in addition to the master. The insider knows the subject, but must not let other players know that he/she knows the subject.
• Calling non-insiders the common people.
• If someone is able to guess the subject during the 5-minute time limit, the game moves to the phase of guessing who the insider is.
• Select suspected insiders by means of a round-trip vote.
  • If the person chosen is actually an insider, the common man wins.
  • If the chosen person is a commoner, the insider wins.
  • If the correct answer is not given within the time limit, everyone loses.

Put together the know-how to do this game without physically getting together using video conferencing tools such as Zoom.

How to do 1 (2020-04-24 Tomoya Tachikawa is the master, 3 plays)

• In the original game, the master also participates in the insider’s reasoning, but not in this way.
• The master decides the subject and chooses one insider at random.
• Using Zoom’s chat messages with a specified recipient (visible only to the person you specify, hereafter “individual chat”)
• The master informs each person of his/her position in the individual chat, and also informs the insider of the subject.
• Once the player knows his/her position, he/she tells it to the master.
  • You can decide to say OK back to the chat, use Zoom’s raise your hand button, or pause with Maru 🙆‍♂️.
• Master starts timer
  • The original game uses an hourglass, but it’s hard to see, so a timer on the phone would be better, and it would be more player friendly if it were visible on the screen.
• Question time, master answers other players’ questions
  • The master should ask, “Is it a building?” because voices tend to be covered. No.” You can recite a question that sounds like “No.
• Insider guess phase when the correct answer is given.
  • Allow the same amount of time for discussion as time used for question time in the main house.
  • Free discussion on who you think is an insider.
  • This time we voted directly without a guess time, but I think it would be better to have one.
• Voting Phase
  • Vote by entering the name of the person you want to vote for in the general chat and pressing the “send” button all at once.
  • The master reads out who voted and how many, then announces the person’s position. Mr. A… was a commoner!”
    • If the insider didn’t come out on top in the voting, you can name yourself.
    • Master “So who’s the real insider?” Mr. B. “It’s me!”

Considerations for next time

• Hopefully there’s a way for the masters to get in the game too.
  • For this to work, the master must be able to start the game without knowing the insiders (that’s how the main house works).
  • Of course, we could do this by creating a separate web app for information transmission, but it would be nice if there was an easier way to do it.
• In this play, the master decides the theme and the insider, but it is also possible, for example, for everyone to send a theme idea to the master, and then the master chooses one person and says, “You are the insider.

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