How to play Tiktiki

4 to 12 playersA phone each, everyone in the same room

Also called Spyfall online · Spy location game · Who's the spy

The game

Everyone at the table has been dropped somewhere: a swimming pool, a bank, a pirate ship. Everyone except one. The Tiktiki, the lizard on the wall, has no idea where you are and has to bluff like they've been coming here for years.

If you've played Spyfall, you know this one. The phones deal the place, run the clock, hold the trials and keep score, so the whole table just talks.

The rules

  1. 1

    Gather the suspects

    One person hosts and reads out the four-letter code, and everyone else types it in on their own phone. The host picks a six, eight or ten-minute clock.

  2. 2

    Peek at your card

    Press and hold the button in the middle of the screen to see where you are, then let go. One card shows a lizard instead: that player is the Tiktiki. Every phone shows the same button, so nobody learns anything from watching you peek.

  3. 3

    Ask around

    The phone names who asks first. They ask anyone a question about the place, that player answers and asks the next question, and so on. No asking straight back. Be vague enough that the Tiktiki can't work out the place, and sharp enough that a bluffer stands out.

  4. 4

    Point a finger

    Anyone can accuse once a round. The clock stops and everyone else votes guilty or not guilty. It has to be unanimous: one no and the questions carry on, with every vote shown by name.

  5. 5

    The Tiktiki's last guess

    However the round ends, whether that's a conviction, the wrong person convicted or the clock running out, the Tiktiki gets one formal guess at the place from the twelve on the table.

  6. 6

    Scores

    Catch the Tiktiki and have them guess wrong, and everyone else scores a point, two for whoever made the accusation. Otherwise the Tiktiki scores: two if caught but they name the place, two for surviving the clock, three for getting an innocent convicted, and two more on top for naming the place.

Ways to play it

  • Notes

    The map pin in the corner opens the twelve places on the table this round. Tap one to cross it off. Your notes stay on your phone.

  • A phone falls asleep

    Locking your phone doesn't cost your seat. If a vote is stuck on someone who wandered off, the host can bang the gavel from the room menu, and missing votes count as not guilty.

Questions people ask

Is this Spyfall?
It's the same idea: one spy, one secret place, a table full of questions. Tiktiki is our version, where the phones do the dealing, the clock and the scoring.
What does Tiktiki mean?
It's the Bengali word for the little house lizard that sits on the wall and hears everything. It's also slang for a snoop.
Does everyone need their own phone?
Yes. The place is secret on every phone, and the Tiktiki's card has to look exactly like everyone else's from across the table.
How many players do we need?
Four at least, twelve at most. Five to eight is the sweet spot: enough questions to hide in, few enough that everyone gets grilled.

Photo credits

Office Paglu

Unprofessional office wear for corporate mazdoors. Wear the joke to the party you just won.

Play it now