Mole Hunt. Find the traitor
You are a mining crew digging five tunnels to the gem. Except one or two of you are moles with glued-on moustaches and pink paws stuffed into gloves. The miners need three finished tunnels; the moles need three collapsed ones. Along the way there is darkness, hard rock and veins of gold, someone holds a secret special role, and even a miners’ win can be stolen by the moles at the very end.
The game is currently in Latvian; an English version is in progress.
Free to play right now. Sign-up needs an invite code from the host of your room.
Crew, listen up! One of you is not a miner. I will be checking moustaches later.Foreman Berta
- Type
- Hidden roles
- Players
- 4–6 players
- Length
- about 15–25 min
- Language
- Latvian only
- Price
- Free for now
How a mission goes
Foreman Berta (“Brigadiere Berta” in the game) runs things. First everyone secretly checks their role; the moles usually see each other. Then come five tunnels, each with its own event.
Berta draws an event
At the start of every tunnel Berta turns over a mine event card that changes the rules for that tunnel: darkness, hard rock, a vein of gold, orders with no vote, or the “Rock Splitting” mini-game, whose winner becomes the leader.
The leader picks a team
The mission leader chooses who goes digging. Team size depends on the mission and the number of players. The leader changes after every mission.
Everyone votes
A lit lantern means “approve”, a dark one “reject”. Only a strict majority approves the team, and usually all votes are shown. The journal lets you look back at every earlier vote.
The team digs in secret
Each team member plays a “Dig” or “Sabotage” card. Miners can only dig. The cards are shuffled and only the totals are shown. Meanwhile everyone outside the team calls whether the tunnel will hold.
The tunnel holds or collapses
Usually a single sabotage is enough to bring the tunnel down. The mine map at the top shows every dug and collapsed tunnel. Then comes talking time — 30, 60 or 90 seconds — and the next mission.
The moles’ last chance
If the miners finish three tunnels and the Master is in play, the moles reveal themselves and together point at the player they think is the Master. If they are right, the moles win.
Special roles
In the room the host chooses: no special roles, some (the Master, the Inspector and the Blaster) or all of them. Everyone knows which roles are in play; nobody knows who has them.
Master (Meistars)Miners’ side. Starts out knowing one mole (with four players, two names, one of them the mole). If the moles find him at the end, they win.
Inspector (Uzraudze)Miners’ side. Once per game, during talking time, privately checks one player’s loyalty. Everyone sees who was checked, but not the result.
Lookout (Sargs)Miners’ side. Once per game, while the team digs, shines the searchlight on one team member’s card, and everyone sees what they played.
Blaster (Spridzinātājs)Moles’ side. Once per game can play “Dynamite”, which counts as two sabotages.
Masked Mole (Maskētais kurmis)Moles’ side. Looks like a miner to the Inspector, and the Master cannot see him.
Lone Mole (Vientuļais kurmis)A mole who does not know the other mole — and the other mole does not know him.
Everyone else is an ordinary miner, who can only dig, or an ordinary mole, who can dig or sabotage. Roles are revealed at the end of the game.
Moles and teams
The number of moles and the team sizes for the five missions. With four players and no special roles, the lone mole needs only two collapsed tunnels.
| Players | Moles | Team size per mission |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | 2, 2, 2, 3, 2 |
| 5 | 2 | 2, 3, 2, 3, 3 |
| 6 | 2 | 2, 3, 4, 3, 4 |
What makes it fun
Every vote is a clue
Votes are public and saved in the journal. Why did she reject exactly that team? Why is he so keen to go digging?
The Master has to stay quiet
The Master knows a mole, but say it too loudly and the moles will know exactly whom to point at in the end. Hints are the only way to win.
Nobody sits out
While the team digs, everyone else calls whether the tunnel will hold and scores a point for every right call. And now and then comes a mini-game where everyone splits rocks at once.
Frequently asked questions
Can I play it in English?
Not yet. The game is currently in Latvian; an English version is in progress.
What is the best number of players?
Four to six can play, but it works best with five or six: then there are two moles and more to argue about.
What are the mine events?
Seven: “Calm Shift” (nothing changes), “Hard Rock” (the tunnel collapses only with two sabotages), “Darkness” (votes are secret, only the tally is shown), “Gold Vein” (the tunnel counts twice), “Echo” (the leader secretly learns one card), “Foreman’s Orders” (the team goes in without a vote) and “Rock Splitting” (the mini-game winner leads this tunnel). Events can also be switched off.
Do the moles know who the other mole is?
Usually, yes: moles see each other on the role card. The exception is the Lone Mole, who does not know the other mole and is not known by them. Miners see nothing, except the Master, who knows one mole.
Can you see who sabotaged?
Usually not. The cards are shuffled, and the game shows only how many were “Dig” and how many “Sabotage”. The exceptions: the Lookout’s searchlight once reveals one card to everyone, and during the “Echo” event the leader secretly learns what one card was.
What is the moles’ last chance?
If the miners finish three tunnels and the Master is in play, the moles reveal themselves and have a minute to point at the Master. If the player they point at most is the Master, the moles win. So the Master has to use what he knows carefully.
What do players outside the team do?
While the team digs, everyone outside it calls whether the tunnel will hold or collapse. The calls are shown in the result, and each right one is worth a point. It does not change who wins — a side wins.
What if the team is not approved?
Leadership passes to the next player, who proposes a new team. Five rejected teams in a row mean a win for the moles.
How long is the talking time?
30, 60 or 90 seconds, as the host chooses. The host can also skip it.
Goes well with this game
A bluffing game suits groups that do not take being accused personally.
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Which of you is the mole?
One person creates a room, the rest join with a four-letter code. Nothing to install. The game itself is in Latvian for now.
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