“Fakin’ It” is more than just a fun party game—it’s a real test of your judgment skills and how you handle suspicion and trust among friends. Accurate judgement is a crucial aspect of the game since the whole game revolves around verifying each other’s actions and stories. In this sense, judging is justified and it’s up to the suspicious to provide a coherent motive.
Due to this, for the Faker, there’s a pressure to conform. This can lead to hilarious admissions and shared laughs, which can strengthen friendships. However, it could go the other way and build suspicion. While it’s all in good fun, the residue of suspicion can linger a bit after the game, especially if someone was particularly good at deceiving the others. This is especially true if the game is played for multiple rounds. For example, if you’re more on the suspicious side and refuse to believe in anyone, then you’re less likely to receive any help (or convince anybody in the following rounds).
If you’re not the faker, you need to cooperate to figure out who the Faker is. The challenge is identifying who you need to cooperate with (i.e. the other non-Fakers). A lot of the time, personal friendships influence this decision — I’m more likely to trust my best friend than someone I would say hi to in the hallway. However, this could be a double-edged sword since you’re more likely to be able to tell if your friend is lying or not. Therefore, sometimes the greatest battles are two besties going at it relentlessly.
This balance between competition and cooperation pushs group dynamics in interesting directions. Usually, the earlier few round are enough to sort of establish a “hierarchy.” You will soon see those that take the lead in accusations, while others might defend those accused creating and dismantling alliances and rivalries. This all stems from the game not being a full-information game, leaving plenty of room for interpretation.
Information comes in the form of two sources: player identity and prompt identity. The Faker has full information on the player identity whereas the players have full prompt identity. By the way the game is designed, player identity if of more value which is why there’s only one Faker. However, for the players, there’s a mechanism for reasoning who the Faker is which is the social dynamics that were created per rounds. Therefore, as the game continues, the balance of information could shift which could also lead to very interesting strategies. One strategy could be to be cooperative in the first few rounds of the game, building the trust and naturally getting yourslef out of the scope. Once you’ve built the rapport, you can then start to play a little bit more selfishly which could be just what you need to put yourself over the other players.
Overall, “Fakin’ It” blends fun with psychological insight, making each session not just a game, but a lively exploration of trust, deception, and the complex interplay of personal dynamics within a group.
