The Lobbyist

How to play The Lobbyist

A party game for 3 to 10 people, each on their own phone. Everyone answers a question. One of you is secretly told to argue the other side. The rest of you have to work out who.

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What you need

3 to 10 people in the same room, and a phone each. The game runs in the phone's web browser, so there's no app to install and nobody has to sign up.

One person hosts. They open thelobbyistgame.com, tap Start a game and pick a deck. Everyone else scans the QR code on the host's phone, or types in the four-letter room code. Fuzzy Logic and the weekly guest deck are free.

A game is 5 rounds.

A round, step by step

  1. Pick a side

    A question comes up on every phone, with two sides. Everyone locks in what they really think. Nobody sees anyone else's answer.

  2. Get your orders

    Each phone tells its owner which side to argue. Most of you argue the side you picked. One of you, the Lobbyist, has to argue the side they didn't pick, and only the Lobbyist knows it.

  3. Phones down

    Put your phone flat on the table, screen up. It shows the side you're arguing, so everyone can see who's on which side.

  4. Argue

    Make your case for as long as you like. When someone has heard enough, they propose a vote and another player seconds it. Ten seconds later, voting opens.

  5. Vote

    Everyone picks the person they think didn't mean it.

  6. Reveal

    The votes come up, then everyone's real answer, then the Lobbyist. Either the table caught them, or they got away with it.

A question from Fuzzy Logic, as the game shows it

  • Is a hot dog a sandwich?

    • YEA SANDWICH

      It's meat held in bread, which is the entire job description.

    • NAY NOT A SANDWICH

      Nobody has ever ordered a hot dog by asking for a sandwich.

Scoring

Points come from the votes. The Lobbyist's own vote never counts.

  • Vote for the Lobbyist and you get 1 point.
  • If the Lobbyist gets more votes than anyone else, they're caught, and every other player gets 2 points.
  • If anyone ties or beats the Lobbyist on votes, the Lobbyist gets away with it and gets 3 points.
  • If the Lobbyist gets away with it and one innocent player has the most votes on their own, the Lobbyist gets 1 more point for the frame job.

After the last round, the most points wins.

The awards

When the game ends, everyone gets a title and a card with their score to brag with.

Mastermind
“Everyone at the table got played. Mostly by me.”
Smooth Talker
“I lied to my friends' faces and they nodded along.”
Lie Detector
“Go ahead and lie to me. See how that goes.”
Worst Poker Face
“I lied. My face told everyone.”
Suspiciously Honest
“Told the truth all night. Nobody bought it.”
Scapegoat
“I did nothing wrong and still took the fall.”
Tourist
“Watched my friends lie for an hour. Very educational.”

Playing the Lobbyist

  • Argue the way you argue about anything. If you're loud about everything, be loud. If you're usually quiet, stay quiet.
  • Give one good reason and stick to it. Liars over-explain.
  • Back up someone on your side. It's hard to suspect two people at once.
  • Point the finger. If someone else ends up with the most votes, you score a bonus point.

Catching the Lobbyist

  • Ask why. Real opinions come with a story, like the time a friend ate all your fries.
  • Remember earlier rounds. Someone who hated pineapple on pizza an hour ago shouldn't love it now.
  • Don't trust a bad argument as proof. Some people are just bad at arguing, and there's an award for them.

Playing with three

Three is enough. One of you is the Lobbyist and two of you aren't, so one vote can decide a round. Sometimes all three of you end up arguing the same side. The game tells you when that happens, and then someone is definitely faking it.

If you like Mafia or Werewolf

The Lobbyist is a social deduction game, like Mafia and Werewolf: someone at the table is lying and everyone else has to find them. The difference is that nobody gets knocked out. Everyone plays every round, and a new Lobbyist is drawn at random each round, so it could be you twice in a row. There's no narrator either. The phones deal the roles and count the votes.

Questions people ask

Is it free?
Yes. Fuzzy Logic, with 163 questions, and the guest deck are free to play. Other decks cost $2.99 each, and only the host needs one. See the decks.
Does everyone need the app?
No. Everyone plays in their phone's web browser. Nobody installs anything or makes an account.
Can someone join halfway through?
Yes. They sit out the round that's on and play from the next one.
Is it OK for teenagers?
Fuzzy Logic and the guest decks are fine for teenagers. Hush Hush, Party Foul, Never Have I Ever, Naughty List and It's Complicated are 16+, and the game checks before it opens them.

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Ready to play

Find two friends or more and a phone each. Fuzzy Logic is free, as many games as you like.

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