Little Secret

About this board game

Little Secret is a hidden-role word game for 3–9 players that plays in about 45 minutes. In each round, players attend a meeting of a secret organization and try to identify anyone who does not share their secret word.

Every player receives a card containing secret words that define their role for the round. Roles can change from one round to the next. Players with a word are either disciples or infiltrators, but they do not know which role they have. A player without a secret word is the lone journalist, who must avoid being recognized.

One at a time, players give a clue connected to their secret word. The goal is to reveal who has a different word—or who has no word at all—without making your own position too obvious. Once everyone has contributed, the group debates and votes on one player to eliminate.

• Give clues while protecting your identity.
• Debate the evidence and vote for an intruder.
• Continue with new clues from the remaining players.

The game continues until only disciples remain or just two players are left. Players who have not been eliminated earn points, making every clue and vote important as the meeting unfolds.

The U.S. edition from Exploding Kittens changes the groups to good kitties, confused kitties, and a spy pup, while keeping the gameplay the same. Each player card includes enough clues for 21 games without needing to shuffle or re-deal. Released in 2022, Little Secret combines deduction, uncertainty, and table-wide discussion in a compact secret-word challenge.