You are humanity's ambassador at the approaching alien fleet. You must warn your fellow humans about what the aliens have in store — but your hosts will only permit you to broadcast one innocent bedtime story. Can you hide enough hints to save humanity?
Setup
At the beginning of the game, each player receives one card. The card tells you about your character and any secret information that you have:
Civilians
Most players are civilians and do not have any secret knowledge. Your job is to listen carefully to the stories and help decipher the Wallfacer's hints.
The Alien
One player is the alien and knows the category of the secret words (for example: "City in Germany"). Use this to identify who is hiding hints in their story.
The Wallfacer
One player is the wallfacer and knows both secret words: an easy word (+1 point) and a hard word (+2 points). Example: "Munich" and "Nuremberg".
Objective
The Wallfacer's goal is to communicate both secret words to humanity through their story — without being caught by the alien.
The Alien's goal is to identify and execute the Wallfacer before they can pass on their message.
Humanity's goal is to correctly guess the secret words based on the Wallfacer's hints.
Game Phases
Phase 1: Story Creation (2.5 minutes)
One player announces a story format. Start with "Bedtime story" for your first game. In later games you can get creative: "Washing machine advertisement", "Bad date story", "Court ruling", etc.
Start a timer for 2.5 minutes. During this time, each player thinks of a short story in the required format. The Wallfacer must try to hide hints about both secret words in their story!
Phase 2: Storytelling
Each player takes turns telling their story to the group.
Important: After a player finishes their story, the alien may choose to reveal themselves and execute that player:
- If the alien executes the Wallfacer → The alien immediately wins the game!
- If the alien executes a civilian → The alien immediately loses the game!
If all players tell their story without the alien revealing itself, the game proceeds to Phase 3.
Phase 3: Deciphering (10 minutes)
The Wallfacer now reveals themselves and also reveals the category of the secret words.
Important: The Wallfacer may not communicate for the remainder of this phase!
A 10-minute timer starts. The other players discuss what the secret words might have been, analyzing the Wallfacer's story for hidden clues.
At the end, humanity can submit up to two guesses for the secret words.
Scoring & Winning
Alien Wins If...
- The alien correctly executes the Wallfacer during Phase 2
- Humanity fails to guess any word correctly in Phase 3
Humanity Wins If...
- The alien executes a civilian (instant win!)
- Humanity guesses the easy word: +1 point
- Humanity guesses the hard word: +2 points
- Any points = humanity wins!
Tips for Playing
For the Wallfacer: Be subtle! Your hints should be clever enough that civilians can figure them out during deciphering, but not so obvious that the alien catches you immediately.
For the Alien: Pay attention to unusual details, metaphors, or references that seem out of place in someone's story.
For Civilians: Even if you have no secret knowledge, tell a creative story! This makes it harder for the alien to identify the Wallfacer.