Tomasz Hanusiak, creator of Blefuj
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The settings and mechanics described here exist in the Blefuj game. House rules that the app does not enforce are clearly labelled.
Looking for a game that gets a party going without a long rules lecture and without installing anything? Blefuj is played on one phone that travels around the group. Below is a concrete plan: which settings to tap for which occasion, how to structure the evening and what to avoid.
Why one phone is enough
The one-phone model removes the usual friction: nobody has to install the same app, join a shared room or have a charged device. One person opens the page, sets up the game and passes the phone on; everyone reveals their role privately and hands the phone to the next player. The rest of the evening happens at the table, not on the screen.
- Open Blefuj in your phone's browser and pick a mode: Impostor (3–10 players) or Duo and Mind Leak (2 players).
- Set players, impostors, category, difficulty and hints. Names are optional and stay on the phone.
- Pass the phone around: everyone reveals their role, hides it and passes it on. Then you play out loud.
Settings by occasion
These aren't suggestions out of thin air: each of these setups can be tapped in the app exactly as described, and the impostor limits come from the game itself (1 with 3–5 players, up to 2 with 6–8, up to 3 with 9–10).
| Occasion | Mode and impostors | Difficulty and hints | Categories to start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| House party, 8 people | Impostor, 2 impostors | Mix, hint for the impostor | Movies & Series, Music, Places |
| Dinner, 4–5 people | Impostor, 1 impostor | Easy for the first round, then Mix; hint for the impostor | Food, Travel, Home |
| Team icebreaker, 6–10 people | Impostor, 1–2 impostors | Mix, hints for everyone (nobody gets stuck on an unfamiliar word) | Everyday Objects, Jobs, Technology |
| Family afternoon | Impostor, 1 impostor, Family Mode | Easy, hints for everyone | Animals, Nature, Home |
| Date or a night in for two | Duo to warm up, then Mind Leak (a 5-round series) | Funny tone, then Awkward | the Classic pack |
| Loud bar, crew of 6+ | Impostor, 2 impostors, Chaos variant | Easy, no hints | Food, Transport |
In Family Mode some categories are unavailable (e.g. Brands) and the pool shrinks to simple, safe words. Detailed recommendations for every group size, from 3 to 10, live in a separate guide.
An example plan for the evening (30–40 minutes)
- Warm-up (5 minutes): one Impostor round on Easy with hints for everyone, no scoring. The point is for everyone to pass the phone once and see their role screen.
- Middle (20 minutes): 4–5 “play again” rounds with the same settings; the app keeps a running tally of civilian and impostor wins. Rotate the category every 2 rounds and the opener every round.
- Finale (10 minutes): switch on the Chaos variant or add a second impostor (from 6 players). As a house rule you can add “last chance”: a caught impostor wins if they guess the word aloud before you open the result.
An example quick game
Six people, the Food category, the word “ice cream”. Clues in turn: “in summer”, “on a stick”, “cold”, “sweet”, and the impostor tries “in a cone”, hoping to fit the vibe. The round takes two minutes; after a short discussion the group names the impostor in the app, the result screen reveals the word, and you immediately start another with a new category.
What to avoid
- Over-explaining the rules, play the first round as a trial.
- Too hard a category or Hard difficulty to open with, the group loses steam.
- Showing your role screen to a neighbour, keep the phone to yourself and pass it only after hiding your role.
- Playing in noise with no set speaking order, appoint someone who keeps the order moving.
- Skipping the discussion before naming the suspect, it's the heart of the game.
Which categories to start with
For the first rounds and mixed groups the safest picks are concrete, universal categories: Food, Animals, Home, Everyday Objects. The full profile of every category, who it works for and when it becomes a trap, is in its own guide.