Know the rules. Read the room. Survive the night.
Everything you need to understand Harmony Deception's phases, matchmaking, and spectator systems — from your first lobby to your hundredth trial.
One full cycle is all it takes for everything to change. Here's what actually happens.
Deceivers scheme. Harmony investigates. Neutrals pursue their own agendas. Everyone makes their move — in the dark, in secret, in silence. All actions resolve simultaneously, so what you do and who you target matters before you know what others chose.
Someone is dead. Accusations fly. Alliances form and break in real time. You have to convince the village — or deflect suspicion — before the vote. Information is muddled, not clear. Trust is earned, not given. The debate is where games are won or lost.
The village picks a suspect. They defend themselves. Everyone votes. Someone gets exiled — and Veloria hopes they got the right one. A tie means no exile. An innocent exile is a win for the Deceivers. Every vote is a gamble with lives on the line.
34 roles across 9 categories. No duplicates that matter.
Gather intel — but information is muddled. Honesty sees factions, not exact roles. Stareholder sees visitors, not abilities. Princess gives categories, not names.
Block attacks, heal wounds, cure infection. Loyalty guards. Kindness heals. Shieldbearer redirects. Warden trades death for death.
Eliminate threats — or be one. Royal Guard and Lawhoof serve Harmony justice. Duelist and the NKs kill for their own reasons.
Empower allies, redirect enemies, control information flow. Laughter buffs. Muddler redirects. Slipstream silences. Sparkguard empowers.
Fake identities, frame innocents, hide in plain sight. Veilweaver disguises. Hexbrand brands. Dreamspinner redirects. Mistspeaker impersonates.
Break the flow. Block abilities. Silence witnesses. Nightcaller disrupts night actions. Sigilbane breaks links.
Unpredictable by design. Scapemare wins by getting voted out. The more chaos, the better their odds.
Win by completing a specific task. Gambler bets on outcomes. Shardseeker collects relics. Bountymare hunts targets.
Trade information and favors. Dealer brokers deals, sells secrets, and profits from the paranoia.
Three factions. Three paths to victory. Only one can succeed.
The village must eliminate every Deceiver and every Neutral Killer. Protect the innocent. Find the traitors. Survive until dawn.
Outnumber or neutralize all Harmony ponies. You don't need to kill them all — you just need them to stop mattering. Patience and paranoia are your weapons.
Every Neutral has their own win condition. Some want to survive. Some want to collect. Some want to watch the world burn. Check your role card carefully.
Get into a match quickly. Play with friends. Fill with bots. Here's how it works.
Host a game and get a 6-character room code. Share it with friends on Discord, text, or voice. They enter the code and join instantly. No account needed to play.
The host creates a room. Players join via code. The host sees who's in and starts when ready. Simple, fast, and designed for groups that already know each other.
Not enough humans? Bots fill the remaining slots automatically. They play intelligently — investigating, accusing, voting — so every game feels full even with a small group.
Games scale from intimate 6-player mysteries to chaotic 16-player villages. Smaller games mean every voice matters. Larger games mean more layers of deception.
Server-authoritative random distribution. No duplicates of key roles. Faction ratios balance automatically based on player count. You never know what you'll get.
The server handles all role draws. No client-side randomness means no cheating, no seed manipulation, no unfair advantages. Everyone rolls the same dice.
Queue up solo or with a party and get matched into a full lobby automatically. Ranked and unranked queues. Elo-based matchmaking. Coming soon.
Not playing? No problem. Watch live matches as a silent observer.
Join any in-progress match as a read-only observer. See the public state: player list, current phase, vote results, eliminations. You know what the village knows.
Optionally filter what you see by faction. Want to watch from Harmony's perspective? Or see the Deceiver side? Toggle filters to focus your observation.
When the game ends, all roles are revealed. See who was lying, who was telling the truth, and how the Deceivers (or Harmony) pulled it off. The best way to learn.
Watch past games with full playback controls: play, pause, scrub, rewind. Study your own games or watch top players. Analyze every night phase, every accusation, every vote. The best way to improve is to see it again — this time, with all the cards on the table.
Quick answers to the things every new player asks.
Most games take 15–30 minutes depending on player count and how fast votes resolve. Smaller games tend to be quicker. Larger games have more debate and take longer.
Yes! Create a room and fill the remaining slots with bots. It's a great way to learn roles and practice strategies without the pressure of human opponents.
Every role card includes a clear ability description and win condition. Plus, you can spectate games to see how roles play out in practice before jumping in yourself.
Not built-in — we recommend using Discord for voice while playing. The in-game chat supports text-based discussion during day phases and whispers between players.
The current build is desktop-focused. Mobile support is planned for a future phase. For now, grab your keyboard and settle in for some pony paranoia.
A disconnected player is replaced by a bot that takes over their role and continues playing. The game doesn't stop. Reconnection is supported if they return quickly.
Join our community for dev updates, exclusive lore, playtest access, and the chance to shape Harmony Deception before it launches.
Built with love (and paranoia) by the Harmony Deception team.