Art Fraud

One word. One stroke each. One fraud at the table.

In the back room of a shabby artists' pub called The Blot, four to eight regulars share a canvas and a secret word. All of them know it — except the Art Fraud , who sees nothing but three question marks and has to draw along anyway.

Take turns adding exactly ONE stroke in your own chalk colour. Then talk. Who hesitated? Whose line was suspiciously vague? Who is drawing from the word, and who is drawing from panic?

How a round goes

The card. Everyone sees the category. The artists see the word. The fraud sees "???" and a heartbeat only they can hear.

Two stroke rounds. One continuous stroke per turn, eight seconds, no undo. Not enough to be sure? If everyone agrees, the table skips the vote and each of you adds another stroke.

The discussion. 90 seconds of open voice chat. Hover any line to see whose hand drew it — and whether it was their first, second or third.

The vote. Cast in secret, revealed together: every animal at the table physically points at their suspect at the same moment.

The unmasking. Spotlight, drum roll, the role card flips. Caught the fraud? They still get one shot at guessing the word — 25 seconds on a chalkboard, and a correct guess steals the round.

The pillory. The loser gets tomatoes, paint and laughter. The winners get confetti and beer mats nailed into the wood.

What is in the box

4 to 8 players online. Steam peer-to-peer, no dedicated servers, no accounts. Invite friends or open the lobby to everyone. (Three works, but the game breathes from five up.)

Voice chat built in. Open mic or push-to-talk. Volume and mute for every player individually — for your ears only, nobody is told.

One, two or three frauds. The host decides before the round, and everyone at the table can see the setting. The artists always stay in the majority.

Eight regulars with faces. A slick fox, a badger landlady, a snobbish owl critic, a knitting pig grandmother, a retired bulldog cop and three more — they sweat, laugh, point and sulk.

Your own words. Play with the built-in categories, or type a word list of your own for the table.

Hi-bit pixel art in a hand-lit pub: warm lamplight against deep shadows, chalk that behaves like chalk, and a camera that knows when to move in close.

Eight languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Portuguese (BR), Russian, Simplified Chinese. The host picks the language of the word cards.

Kick vote for the guest nobody wants: everyone except the accused has to agree.

Being the fraud is not about hiding

It is about drawing something that looks like it belongs — and then talking louder than the doubt. And being an artist is not about drawing well. It is about drawing something that only somebody who knows the word could have drawn. Draw too clearly and you hand the word to the fraud. Draw too vaguely and the table comes for you.

Please note

Art Fraud is an online multiplayer game — there is no single player mode and no AI opponents. Bring friends, or find a table in the lobby browser. A microphone is strongly recommended: the talking is the game.