How to Play Wink Murder

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Wink Murder is a social deduction party game for five or more players that requires no equipment beyond a way to assign a secret role. The Murderer silently picks off fellow players with a wink, while everyone else tries to catch them in the act before the body count gets too high. It rewards sharp observation, a convincing poker face, and a healthy sense of the theatrical.

It is a perennial favourite at children's parties, family gatherings, youth clubs, and school playgrounds precisely because it needs no board, no timer, and no reading ability. A single round takes only a few minutes, making it easy to play repeatedly in quick succession.

A little history

The precise origins of Wink Murder are unclear. It belongs to a broad family of hidden-role and elimination games that were well established in British playground and parlour culture by the mid-twentieth century. It is sometimes grouped with games such as Mafia and Werewolf, which emerged separately in the 1980s as structured party games, but Wink Murder is traditionally considered an older, simpler pastime passed down informally rather than published with a fixed ruleset.

Setting up

1. Gather all players into a circle, either seated or standing, so that every player can see every other player's face.
2. Prepare one slip of paper or card per player. Mark one slip with an X or the word 'Murderer'; leave all others blank.
3. Shuffle the slips and deal one face-down to each player. Players look at their slip in secret and do not reveal their role.
4. Collect and discard the slips, or have players pocket them, so no physical evidence remains visible.
5. Choose one player to be the Detective, or agree to use the group accusation method (see How to Play). If using a Detective, that player steps briefly out of the room or covers their eyes while roles are assigned.

How to play

1. Once roles are assigned and the Detective is back in position (or all players are ready), the round begins. No starting signal is needed; play is continuous.
2. The Murderer kills other players by making direct eye contact with a target and giving a single, deliberate wink. The wink must be directed at one specific person.
3. A player who receives a wink must die. They should wait one to three seconds before doing so to avoid instantly pinpointing the Murderer, then perform a death and sit or lie down out of play. Dead players may not speak, gesture, or otherwise communicate for the rest of the round.
4. The Detective (if one is used) watches the group and may make one formal accusation per round by saying 'I accuse [name].' If correct, the Murderer is caught and the round ends. If wrong, the Detective is eliminated and play continues without a detective. Some groups allow the Detective two guesses; agree this before play begins.
5. If no Detective is used, any living player may raise their hand to make an accusation. They state their suspect aloud. A second living player must immediately second the accusation. If seconded, both accuser and seconder point simultaneously at their suspect. If both are pointing at the same person and that person is the Murderer, the round ends and the accusers win. If either points at the wrong person, both accusers are eliminated and play continues.
6. The round ends immediately when the Murderer is correctly identified, or when the Murderer has eliminated all other living players without being caught, in which case the Murderer wins.
7. After each round, collect the slips (or prepare new ones), shuffle, and re-deal to start a fresh round.

Winning and scoring

The Murderer wins the round by eliminating every other living player without being correctly identified. The Detective or accusing players win the round by correctly naming the Murderer while they still have at least one living player remaining. In casual play, rounds are simply replayed with no cumulative score. For a scored session, award one point to the Murderer for each player they kill before being caught, and one point to the player who makes the successful accusation; the player with the most points after an agreed number of rounds wins the game.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns whether a wink was actually given or whether a player simply blinked or caught someone's eye by accident. The standard ruling is that the Murderer's wink must be clear and intentional; if a player genuinely did not notice a wink directed at them, they are not obligated to die. However, if the Murderer sincerely intended the wink and the target saw it, the death stands regardless of whether the target found it ambiguous. Players should not claim they 'did not see' a wink as a tactic to stay in the game; that undermines the social contract of the round.

A second common issue arises with the simultaneous accusation rule: if the two accusers point at different people, the accusation fails and both are eliminated even if one of them pointed correctly. This is intentional. It prevents players from making vague or speculative group accusations. Equally, a single player raising their hand counts for nothing until a second player seconds it; an unsupported accusation is simply ignored and play continues without penalty to the would-be accuser.

How to win more often

• As the Murderer, vary your timing. Winking in rapid bursts early in the round draws attention; pacing your kills and allowing conversations to develop gives you natural cover.
• Use social distraction to your advantage. Laugh at a joke, join a conversation, or look puzzled at a death across the circle before quietly winking at someone nearby.
• As a detective or potential accuser, watch for players who break eye contact unusually fast after a death, not the dying player, but others nearby who may have just delivered or witnessed the wink.
• Avoid staring fixedly at the same person for too long. It signals suspicion to the Murderer, who will simply wink someone else and let you waste an accusation.
• As a living non-detective player, be strategic about when to second an accusation. If you are confident, back it immediately. If you are unsure, staying silent costs you nothing and keeps you in the game.

Variations

Two Murderers

For larger groups of twelve or more, deal two Murderer cards. The two Murderers do not know each other's identity and must work independently. This significantly shortens rounds and raises the tension, as accusers can identify one Murderer and still lose to the second.

No Detective

Remove the Detective role entirely. All players are potential accusers and must use the dual-accusation system throughout. This version is faster and works well for younger children or large informal groups where assigning and managing a Detective role adds unnecessary complexity.

Killer and Medic

Add a Medic role alongside the Murderer. The Medic can save a dying player by making brief eye contact and touching their own nose before the dying player fully sits down. A saved player stays in the game. The Medic must avoid detection just as the Murderer does. This variant works best with ten or more players and adds a second layer of deduction.

Vampire Wink Murder

When a player is killed by the Murderer's wink, they do not simply die and sit out. Instead, after a count of five, they become a second Murderer and may begin winking victims themselves. The original Murderer remains in play. The round ends only when the original Murderer is identified; accusing a converted vampire has no effect and costs the accuser their life. This variant is best with fifteen or more players and a clear agreement beforehand on how converted vampires should signal their status to the group.

Wink Murder: frequently asked questions