Mantis Falls is a “sometimes cooperative” hidden traitor strategy game for 2-3 players. It mixes hand-building and tactical card play with deduction and tenuous cooperation.

On the dark film-noir roads of mob-ruled Mantis Falls in the 1940s, you are witnesses hunted for your information. You now must survive the night and escape town alive. Working together, you will need to frequently cooperate and trust one another to navigate the night, but things may not all be as they seem. Each game may be entirely witnesses – meaning players can only win by all surviving together – or there could secretly be an assassin hidden among you, subtly manipulating the situation and waiting for the right moment to strike.

You’ll make concealed moves and develop hidden plans, but also need to have thorough conversations throughout as you discuss tactics, defend choices and bluff to protect carefully guarded secrets. In your slow walk, you will seek allies, acquire tools and become encumbered by grave afflictions. The steps forward present secret “unseen” events and double-edged action cards, which stir confusion and degrade confidence. As the night wears, witnesses and assassins alike will need to tread the line between the value of teamwork and a preparation to kill.

Mantis Falls creates a unique and tense game experience, meant to draw you into the characters’ horrifying night and make you feel the profound power, and danger, that can come from our ability to trust. Like life, Mantis Falls is a cooperative game that is only really cooperative sometimes.