How to Play Assassins Online - Virtual Game Rules & Tips

Want to unleash your inner assassin? Need a fun online game to enjoy with a group? We’ve got you covered.

Spies and Assassins (also known as Assassin or Gotcha) is a free online game that involves secret missions, stealthy sleuthing, virtual spaces, and exciting sneaky strategies. This multi-player online game can even be enjoyed by large groups, Kumospace can host up to 75+ at a time! Thankfully, Kumospace is an immersive video chat platform for virtual offices and online events that puts Zoom to shame. Nobody will be getting Zoom fatigue while playing!

The only caveat? You’ll need to know the rules before you play.

If you’ve never experienced the excitement of virtual Spies and Assassins, now’s your chance! Here’s everything you need to know about the assassin game and how to play it online.

Assassins is a popular game that’s most prevalent on high school and college campuses or in camps or getaways. It’s a game where the goal is to be the last one standing, even if you must take out all your friends. And — like many good things in the world — assassin games aren’t just confined to real life. They can also be played online!

The main difference between virtual and in-person assassins is that online games are played without any physical contact. Instead, you and your opponents stalk each other through internet floors, gathering your Spy Crews and avoiding devious assassins along the way.

Here’s how Spies and Assassins work online:
Every game has an organizer, AKA a Spymaster, who will assign players to their Spy Crews and Assassin roles. The goal of the game is for all of the spies to successfully identify their Spy Crew before the assassins eliminate everyone.

Once you (the player) receive your assignment, you can explore the virtual floors within Kumospace and interact with other players. As you talk to the other players and share your special code word, you’ll discover who’s a friendly spy, who’s on an opposing team, and who is an assassin waiting to strike. If you happen to bump into an assassin as you sneak around Kumospace, you’ll “die” and have to stay where you were killed.

Ready to get started? Follow these assassin game rules, created exclusively for Kumospace by a dedicated Canadian secret operative government official.

When it comes to playing assassin games, the base rules are pretty simple: if you’re an assassin, take out the spies and if you’re a spy, try to stay alive. Our free online game builds a bit on these traditional rules to make the game more interesting and fun. Here are a few more rules to keep in mind during your game:

• Follow the camera rules — Keep it off once you’ve been assassinated!
• Don’t give away the assassin — Be a good secret keeper!
• Be a good sport — Tensions are high, and betrayal is expected, but remember that it’s just a game. Be fair to the other players so that all can enjoy the Kumospace.

Other than that, just be sure to follow your Spymaster’s guidance throughout the game and turn to them if you have any questions while you play.

Whether you’re hosting a casual virtual happy hour night with your closest (but not geographically) friends or you’re organizing a company-wide game to help with team building, we’ve got a space for that. Kumospace floors can fit up to 50 participants at a time, which makes it easy for even big parties to join us for an online assassin game.

Just remember to get the correct number of floors. For example, a team of 75 players will need two floors; a team of 125 will need three. You can always contact us if you need help setting up your Kumospace!

Top Secret: Don’t give players these instructions before starting your game. Hide this section before sharing the rest of the rules with the game participants.

1. Every floor will need one Spymaster to watch over the game in that area.
2. Randomly assign 20 to 25% of your players to be assassins.
3. Group the rest of the players into Spy Crews of approximately four people.
4. Assign a unique codeword to each Spy Crew.
5. Randomly assign each spy one of the codewords.

Now your team is assembled. Assignments are doled out. You’re ready to play the assassin game online. Here are the rules to share with everyone involved in this online game.

Insider’s tip: Ensure every player is visible on camera at the start of the game to avoid confusion about victims. The game only works if everyone begins with their camera on.

You’re all spies who’ve gathered together at the International Spy Convention. Everyone has a super-secret mission to complete, but first, you’ll need to identify your Spy Crew. Your only hint? A special codeword given to you by the Spymaster.
As you wander around the convention, share your codeword with the people you meet to identify the rest of your crew. There can be any number of people in your Spy Crew, so don’t get complacent.

When you think that you’ve discovered your whole Spy Crew, it’s time to talk to a Spymaster. You'll find a Spymaster on each floor and have to be within speaking range to talk to them. Make sure you have all your crew members together, then visit a Spymaster to confirm that your team is complete.

Be careful, though! If your Spy Crew is missing a person or if you’ve been infiltrated by a crafty assassin, you’ll have to serve a 1-minute penalty before you can continue the game.

Each online game of Spies and Assassins comes complete with a random number of Assassins. How many? Only the Spymaster will know.

The murderous assassins will wander around the convention, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. If an assassin can get you alone and say, “Bang, bang, you’re dead!” without anyone else overhearing, it’s game over for you. You’re now a victim and must count to five and then turn off your camera for the remainder of the game.

However, if anyone else hears the attempted assassination (including previous victims in the area), then the assassin fails and you survive to wander around the convention until your next close call.

Insider's tip: Don’t disclose the Assassin's identity — no one wants to play Assassins with a tattletale!

Oh no! You weren’t lucky enough to survive to the end of the game. That’s tough. Once you've been assassinated, keep your camera off and stay where you died. You can talk to the people around you, but you can’t move unless someone from your Spy Crew finds you. If that happens, you can walk around with them — but if they leave you, you must stay still again.

While you’re searching for your Spy Crew, keep your ears out for any assassination attempts happening nearby — you may be able to thwart them.

If you overhear an Assassin, say the killing words, or if you see any unscrupulous happenings, you can report the player to a nearby Spymaster. If your suspicions are correct, the Assassin is revealed to any players who are on their floor. Once identified, an Assassin can continue to do their Assassin thing — or they can try to, anyway.

But if you’re wrong? You’ll have to serve a penalty before you can keep looking for your Spy Crew.

If the Assassins eliminate all of the spies in the game on every floor before the first Spy Crew is officially complete, they’re the winners!

Both Assassins and Spies can travel around the floors in this online game by selecting the “Back to Lobby” button at the bottom of your screen, then choosing a new floor to visit. Remember that there’s a limit of 50 people per floor at all times.

Keep an ear out for announcements throughout the game. Spymasters can use the “broadcast” feature, so they’ll periodically be getting in touch with everyone on their floor to share important information such as:

• When the game is starting
• Who the Spies are
• The names of identified Assassins
• When the game is over

You’ll be able to hear the Spymasters no matter where you are, but they can only hear you if you're standing nearby.

Want to be the winner? Here are a few handy hints to help you learn how to play the assassins game like a pro.

• If you’re an assassin, you don’t have an assigned codeword. You may want to create a fake one and keep it handy!
• Keep an eye on the space around you so that you always know who’s in hearing range.
• Use the “Map” button at the bottom of your screen to pull up a map of everyone on the floor. You can use this to find your fellow Spies and the Spymasters.
• Don’t travel alone! Find your Spy Crew as quickly as possible — there’s safety in numbers.

If you’re ready to create an epic Spies and Assassins game online, we’ve got a few tips to help you out. To begin with, remember that the more people, the more exciting the game will be! More players mean more assassins, more confusion, more chaos, and more fun! So don’t be afraid to get a huge group together to enjoy our online space.

We also recommend that the Spymasters on each floor keep careful notes of Spy Crews, codewords, assassin reveals, and any other relevant info. This game has many moving components and can get confusing if you’re not on top of things! Assassin’s is a great game to help build team culture. Try it out and let us know how it goes!