Read the Room

The gist

Read the Room is about how well you know the people around you. Every chapter brings a different type of question. First, everyone answers about themselves: that's the confession. Then everyone bets chips on how the others answered: that's the betting grid. Last comes the reveal, where you find out who can read whom.

How to play

1. Confession. Everyone gets one to three questions about themselves, each player their own (fewer at bigger tables, so the grid stays manageable). You have 20 seconds for a two-option question and 40 for three or more options.
2. Betting grid. Now the questions are about everyone else. For each one, you get ten chips to split between the options.
3. Reveal. One player at a time, question by question: first the question, then where the table put its chips, and only then the real answer and the payouts.
4. Between chapters you see the scoreboard. At the end comes the Who reads whom matrix.

Chips

For every question you get ten chips (the host can set anywhere from 6 to 20) to split between the options. All ten in one column means "I'm sure." An even split is an honest "no idea": you won't win, but you won't lose either.

Chips don't carry over within a chapter. You get a fresh stack for every question; otherwise you could go all in on the one person you know best and leave the rest of the grid empty.

Question types

1. Dilemma: two options.
2. Choice: three or four options. Harder to guess, so each chip is worth more.
3. Scale: the options run in order, and the one next to the right answer pays a little too.
4. Put them in order: four items to rank. Chips go on positions, not items: every position you get right pays separately, and nailing the whole order adds a +150 bonus.
5. How many are true? Six statements, and any number of them can be true. The fewer the player marked, the more each chip is worth.
6. About the table: the answer is a person, not an option. With two players this type is skipped, since there'd be only one candidate.

A standard game (Classic) has 3 chapters: a dilemma first, a question about the table last, and a random type in between. Full analysis plays all 5 chapters in a fixed order: dilemma, choice, put them in order, how many are true, about the table. The host can also choose 2 or 4 chapters; the scale only shows up in those shorter, randomly drawn games. The last chapter is always the finale, and every point in it counts double.

Scoring

• 10 per chip on the right option, multiplied by the number of options minus one (in How many are true? the multiplier depends on how many statements were marked)
• half for a chip on the segment next to the right one on a scale
• x3 if you bet against the table's favorite and turned out to be right
• if a player runs out of time to answer, their question is scrapped and everyone is compensated as if they'd split their chips evenly
• x2 on all of the above in the final chapter

The player whose answers are being revealed doesn't score that round. They just get to watch.

Tips

• An even split costs nothing, but it earns nothing beyond the base payout either.
• The biggest payout comes from going all in against the whole table, if you're right.
• On a scale you don't have to be exact: the neighboring segment pays too.
• Answer honestly about yourself. Being unpredictable earns you nothing, and the truth is what everyone will be reading you by for the rest of the game.