|8 min. read|

I invited my closest friends and family to join me for a night of deceit, betrayal, and dramatic roundtable accusations… and by the end of the night, everyone was asking when we could do it again!

If you’re obsessed with the drama and strategy of The Traitors, this is your sign to host your own version at home.

Here’s how to plan an unforgettable Traitors themed party so you can too:

1. Invites
2. Guest List
3. Supplies & Decor
4. Scripts
5. Schedule
6. Missions
7. Music
8. Menu

Invites

I recommend Canva or a similar graphic design tool to create your invites. When creating invites be sure to include the “Five Ws” — Who, When, What , Where, and Why. You can find more on how to curate the perfect invite here.

This particular party was for my birthday, but honestly? You do not need a special occasion to host! The theme stands on its own.

Guest List

I recommend a head count of 9-23 players. We had 12 players and the game took roughly 4 hours. If your guest list is on the shorter side like 9, I think there is an opportunity to do a battle back for eliminated players. If you do choose this route, make sure the eliminated players put their blindfolds on during murders so that they do not know who the traitors are shall they end up back in the game.

Option 1: Active Player Redemption

The remaining players compete in a mission. The first eliminated player whose “cup” gets filled (via coin collecting game – there would be a cup for each eliminated player and coins scattered around the active players would collect coins and the first cup to get filled by the active players gets to rejoin the game) reenters the game.

Option 2: Eliminated Player Showdown

The eliminated players compete against each other to battle back.

If you do a battle back, make sure murdered players wear blindfolds during murders so they don’t learn who the traitors are.

Supplies & Decor

Creating your “Round Table”:

My goal for the decor was to channel the drama and moodiness of the Traitors US castle by making everything dark and candle lit. Fortunately for me, I just got married and had a ton of hurricane vases and candles left over that I recycled for table decor.

Before our guests arrived, we set up what would be our “Round Table” with a cloak, blindfold, chalkboard, and a piece of chalk for our players. The chalkboard was a fun way to create a seating chart, and the cloak added an element of whimsy and fun when welcoming your guests into the night.

I highly recommend the cloaks if you can afford them, the guests had a lot of fun running around in them!

Your guests will need the blindfolds for the murders. I fortunately have a big enough house where we could all go to the basement to execute the murders.

How We Ran Murders

We’re fortunate to have space, so we:

1. Sent everyone to the basement.
2. Played music loudly.
3. Had players spread out wearing blindfolds.
4. Traitors secretly removed blindfolds and stepped into another room to decide their target.

If space is limited, you can have traitors silently point at their target while remaining at the table.

The chalk and chalk boards were helpful for the banishment round, but not necessary. You could also just use a pen and cut up pieces of paper for voting.

The blindfolds were a bit see-through in that you could see bright light sources through them, but they worked for the purpose of keeping the traitor’s identity a secret.

Decor:

One of my favorite hosting hacks? Butcher paper.

I’ve used it for so many themed parties, and it came in clutch again.

For this party I created:

• A Wall of Faithfuls
• A Circle of Truth
• A framed wall for Mission #1

It’s custom and costs almost nothing. The frames like the invite were also designed in Canva.

Scripts

A very important step, even if you have seen every season of traitors is to write out the rules and procedures of the game. We chose to relay this information in the same theatrical manner as the host, Alan Cummings, but the theatrical flare is up to you. There is no right or wrong way to throw this party, so make it your own and do whatever makes you feel comfortable!

Scripts we wrote:

1. General Game Introduction
2. Banishment Procedure and Rules
3. Murder Procedures and Rules
4. Mission Explanation and Rules
5. Traitor Interview Questions

One thing to note, you could totally skip interviewing the players and have the traitors assigned at random, that way no one is considering who the host would have selected based on what they know about the host and their thought processes.

Schedule

I highly recommend creating a schedule of the events and printing a copy for the host of your game. When you have 10+ people laughing and talking, structure is your best friend.

You can also share the schedule with your attendees ahead of the party to keep them informed and build anticipation!

The Traitors US show follows this general sequence:

1. Player Interviews
2. Traitor assignment
3. Mission
4. Murder
5. Mission
6. Banishment
7. Murder
8. Mission

But I adjusted mine slightly:

1. Player Interviews
2. Traitor Assignment
3. Mission
4. Banishment (before the traitors know each other!)
5. Murder
6. Mingle
7. Mission

Then I would start back at number 4. You will do this until 6 players remain. Once there are 6 players left and you complete a banishment to get to 5 players, there is no circle of truth for that banishment. From there the remaining 5 players will vote to end the game or banish again should they think a traitor is amongst the remaining 5. This process will repeat until the group has decided to unanimously end the game.

Missions

My favorite season of the Traitors US so far is season 3 which I took a lot of inspiration from when creating my missions.

Mission #1: Betrayer’s Mark 🎯

Each player had two Nerf gun shots to hit the framed photo of someone they didn’t trust.

• Hit on first try = money for the pot
• Last 1–2 frames standing = those players receive shields

Instant tension.

We cycled through this until there were 1-2 frames unmarked on the wall. Those two players got a shield and were safe from the next Murder.

Mission #2: Minefield ♠️

This mission is a rendition of the Fun House challenge from S3E3 and is played in pairs.

Place five rows of five cards in a private room each row will have 4 black cards and 1 red.

Flip the red card to advance.
Flip black? End of turn.

Each pair played in private and could choose whether to share results with the group of specific individuals upon their return.
First pair to complete it won shields.

Mission #3: Poppin’ Riddles 🎈

For this mission I drew inspiration from the urn mission on S3E5. In this mission, we had 30 balloons on the ground with words written on them. 22 of the balloons contained white confetti while 8 contained multicolor confetti. The host read a riddle aloud and the first person to raise their hand had 30 seconds to riffle through the balloons, find, and pop the balloon corresponding to the correct answer. If they were correct they selected a player (including themselves) to give a shield to and earned money for the prize pot. This game repeats until all 8 riddles have been answered. The two with a shield at the end of the mission are safe from the next murder.

Mission #4: Fill it up ⏱️

For this mission, the goal is simple: be the first to fill your cup. The twist is you have to fill a 12 oz cup with a 1.5 oz shot glass. In this challenge, the fastest time gets the shield. For every player under 40 seconds, we added money to the prize pot.

Music

Now that you have done the hard part, it’s time to select the menu and playlist to set the vibe!

We used this playlist on Spotify for background noise during missions and this playlist for background noise and vibes the rest of the time.

Menu

Below is the food we provided along with music that we played during the evening.

Drinks

Non-Alcoholic: Traitor’s Tonic

~ a half gallon / 8 servings

• 46oz orange juice
• 23 oz lemonade
• Blue curacao syrup (to taste/until it gets to desired greenness/sweetness)
• 2 sliced lemons
• 2 sliced limes
• Top off with soda water

Alcoholic: Faithful’s Blood

~ a half gallon / 8 servings

• 1 slice apple
• 2 750 ml bottles dry red wine
• ½ cup of vodka
• ½ cup of triple sec
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 1 sliced orange

Food

Appetizer:

Charcuterie Board

Main:

Chicken and Shrimp Skewers with greek orzo salad and tzatziki

Dessert:

Homemade Coffin shaped cake with chocolate buttercream icing and strawberry cake

….and that is how we hosted an unforgettable Traitors party.

I want to highlight once more that this how-to is designed to inspire your creativity rather than serve as strict guidelines for hosting a party. Embrace the opportunity to personalize your celebration and give it your unique charm!

Happy Hosting 🖤

Please let us know if you try this out or if you have any questions about the logistics of hosting a Traitors party.