I love Spyfall. As a gaming group, it is one of our go-to party games. There is something insanely fun about pretending to all be a part of some amazing conspiracy in which one person is a spy you have to root out. The absurdity of it is awesome, with the idea of Teachers, Waiters, and Mechanics all looking for the spy in their midst.

We’ve had some great times playing Spyfall, with all kinds of crowds. We’ve played it with everyone from hardcore gamers to my girlfriend’s grandmother. The latter, may I add, being one of the great gaming experiences, like playing Cards Against Humanity with my 87-year-old grandmother, but that’s a story for another time.

The only problem, however, is that sometimes it can be difficult to think of questions on the fly. Heck, sometimes it’s difficult just thinking of them for an article (like this article I wrote on Spyfall, where I managed to list around eight before giving up). Under the pressure of the situation, it is possible to be rendered completely dumbstruck in the stress – so that finding the perfect question to ask becomes near impossible.

With that in mind, I thought I would sit down with a few people I play with and see how many questions we can list in both the “standard” and “really weird” categories – so, let’s give this a shot – we want to get more than fifty.

Standard Questions for Spyfall

1. Who’s your boss?
2. What’s the biggest thrill you have ever had at work?
3. Sorry, but who are you again?
4. What is the Pension Plan like with your job?
5. Do you think this place is dangerous?
6. How did you get here today?
7. How long did it take you to get here today?
8. What do you see out the window?
9. What’s your favourite perk of the job?
10. What would it take for me to do your job?
11. Is this an old building?
12. Who’s that?
13. Who was the last person you spoke to?
14. Apart from me, who was the last person you spoke to?
15. How was your ride to work this morning?
16. What time was your last break?
17. Do they work shifts here?
18. If I told you <insert name here> was the spy, would you be surprised?
19. What’s that in your hand?
20. What’s that in your other hand?
21. What was your last Christmas party like?
22. What did you eat for lunch today?
23. What are your responsibilities?
24. What’s that alarm?
25. What is your biggest workday challenge?
26. What is the most satisfying part of your job?
27. What are the employee benefits of working here?
28. What’s your notice period?
29. Why did your predecessor quit?
30. Who’s that in the corner?
31. What’s that in the corner?
32. What’s next door?
33. What does it say in the window?
34. What’s the biggest problem with what you’re wearing?
35. What magazines do you subscribe to?
36. If you are the spy, what would your code name be?
37. What is your favourite piece of workplace furniture?
38. If I got covered in oil, what would you think?
39. What’s your next promotion?
40. Who is your most irritating co-worker?

Those are 40 questions that are fairly standard to the game of Spyfall. You ask them and you get a decent response; however, they are still incredibly easy to lie to. It is also possible to be vague to them, giving answers like “What’s your next promotion?” “The position above mine”.

“What’s next door?” “A building.”

Great.

The real trick with Spyfall comes when you throw the Spy off guard or force a player to think outside of the box. The standard questions all have quick answers; however, these weird questions require thought. I’ve provided a bit of commentary for these.

Weird “Best Questions” To Ask In Spyfall

1. You are marooned on a desert island – what one item from your workplace would you take with you? – So, this is the natural expansion of “what’s that in your hand?” and forces the player to think outside of the box. It removes the ability for them to just say something like “my lunch” as it requires them to name something from their environment. This should be enough to give you an inkling to go on to know if the person is a spy or not.
2. At your last Christmas Party, what was the most embarrassing thing an employee did? – Not only is this a fun question, but it helps determine where a location is. If they photocopied something unspeakable then you know it’s in an office right away; however, this is also an opportunity for non-spies to get creative with their answers.
3. Why have the police just been called? – This could open the doors to a plethora of answers which can help the spy locate where they are (it will fail instantly for The Crusades, but that is the risk of the game), or for the other players to add a bit more fun. It allows for subtlety as well as for blatant spy figuring.
4. If <Insert Famous Person Here> were here – what would he/she be doing? – The question as to what a specific person would do in a place is classic. It works with any well-known figure, and allows for so much scope for an answer. They could be doing what ordinary non-celebrities are doing, or they may be doing something specific to them. Either way, you should get an idea if you are talking to the spy.
5. Complete this sentence – “I do this job for _______ and _______.” – This Cards Against Humanity question structure forces the player to come up with two specific and related things. It’s great for routing people out, as they can’t just give a one-word stock answer.
6. If you could commit any crime in this location and guarantee you would get away with it, what would it be? – This is always an interesting question, as non-spies should try and make it specific to where they are. Spies will probably be generic, meaning it is a good question to separate the spies from the rest.
7. I saw a ghost! Who was it in a previous life? – Great question, eh? I love this question as it means you are forcing the other player to not only think of an identity but you are also getting them to think of the backstory. The odds are you will end up with more information that you originally asked for as they tell you why the ghost is there.
8. Is Big Brother watching you? – Simple and effective. In other words, what is the authority like? This throws people off whilst they decipher what “Big Brother” means in this case.
9. I see dead people – what do you see? – A simple alternative to the “what do you see” question that shifts the balance of the question to begin with. You want people thinking creatively, and by throwing that extra element in you are doing just that. Try it – it works surprisingly well.
10. What’s your alignment? – One for the D&D fans. When playing against other role-playing gamers, it is a good question to throw in. It forces players to think about their role in detail, hopefully exposing more than you asked once again.
11. Oh, I know that celebrity! Remind me who they are again? – This question forces the players to think of a celebrity who may be relevant to the scenario. The best thing is – it works for every environment. There is a lot of room for fun with this question, and it always adds to the game. It is the natural evolution for the question “who’s that?”
12. If you could clone any of your colleagues, who would it be? – Questions that help flesh out the world are incredibly valuable in Spyfall. They allow for further exploration and this one is no exception. It forces the player to come up with someone in the world, and then a reason as to why they want two of that person. This doesn’t work if they are a patron of the location, for example, as they don’t work at the place – but it can help for any employee.
13. What is “the truth”? – Don your tin foil hats. What is “the truth”? Well, it could be anything, but hopefully, it is something related to the scenario at hand. If asked this one as the spy, a great way around the question is to give away something personal. “What is the truth? FINE! I do have a tattoo of Kermit the Frog on my thigh!”
14. If I was wearing what you’re wearing, would my bum look big? – It sounds silly, but this sentence actually makes sense. It helps narrow down the location if you already suspect it to be somewhere like the day spa.
15. Why can I hear the French National Anthem? – This is one of the strangest, but most helpful, questions on the list. Think of why the French National Anthem (or any other National Anthem – it doesn’t have to be French, but instead just a country of your choosing) would be playing? There could be so many reasons, from it being a French lesson in a school to being a phone ringtone in the office.
16. If I am holding three apples in one hand, whilst on a train travelling sixty miles per hour due east, on a Tuesday, with a man named Cliff – are you the spy? – Just because.

Okay, that’s 56 – I’m pretty happy with that.

As you can see, we had quite a bit of fun with those. We wanted to give as much scope as possible, whilst also giving questions that would be helpful (okay, so that last one may not be). Through using the above questions you should have a bank of ideas you can dip into during your next game.

The great thing about Spyfall is that any question can be relevant and point towards a great answer; however, the downside is the player can also be as elusive as they want to be. So, it’s swings and roundabouts really.

Try out some of the questions though, and you are bound to find a few that work for you.

In the meantime, what are your favourite questions to ask? I got some amazing responses on my last article about Spyfall questions, so let’s see if we can top those. Let me know in the comments below.

Other Articles About Spyfall:
5 Games Like Spyfall (Not Just Social Deduction Games)
What Are The Best Questions To Ask In Spyfall?
Spyfall Review – If James Bond Was Weird

Published by Luke

Board game nerd, comic book geek, Rubik's Cube solver, Splendor player, and Blogger. View all posts by Luke