LOYALTY

What This Game Is§ 01

LOYALTY adapts the social-deduction game The Resistance to the McCarthy era. The Senate Internal Security Subcommittee is investigating the State Department. Most employees are Loyal Americans. A small number are Soviet Infiltrators posing as patriots. Over five Loyalty Hearings, the two sides fight to convince the rest of the room — without ever revealing themselves.

There is no elimination. Every student plays every minute. The game ends when one side wins three of the five hearings, or when the committee paralyzes itself with rejected proposals.

What Students Should Feel§ 02

The point is not winning. The point is the feeling. By the end, students should viscerally understand:

• Suspicion is contagious. Once anyone is accused, they cannot un-accuse themselves.
• Innocence cannot be proven. The Loyal player who plays a CLEAR card looks identical to an Infiltrator who plays a CLEAR card.
• Voting publicly is dangerous. Your vote is a record. People will remember.
• Silence is also dangerous. Saying nothing in a hearing looks suspicious. Saying too much looks suspicious.

That feeling is the curriculum. The debrief turns it into history.

Materials Checklist§ 03

• One screen with the Game Master Dashboard (dashboard.html) projected
• Role cards — printed and pre-shuffled into a sealed envelope
• One-page Rules Card — one per student
• CLEAR / SUBVERT cards — enough for the largest hearing (8 of each)
• Hearing tracker poster — taped to the board, or use the dashboard
• Committee Chair badge — passed around the table
• Debrief sheet — pulled up at the 42-minute mark

The 50-Minute Timeline§ 04

Player Scaling§ 05

Use this table to know how many infiltrators to seed and how many investigators each hearing requires. The dashboard handles this automatically when you select the player count.

Opening Monologue§ 06

Read this slowly. Do not break character. The point is to drop them into 1953.

Dealing Roles · The Oath of Office§ 07

1. From the sealed envelope, deal one role card face-down to each student.
2. Tell students to peek at their card under the table, memorize it, and return it face-down in front of them.
3. Conduct the Oath of Office: "Raise your right hand. Repeat: I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
4. Note: Infiltrators take the oath too. They are lying. That is the point.

The Infiltrator Awakening

One Hearing, Step by Step§ 08

Phase 1 · Proposal

The Committee Chair (rotates around the table) names the required number of investigators. They may name themselves or not. There is no negotiation phase — but in practice, the table will argue. Give them 60–90 seconds.

Phase 2 · Senate Vote

Every player — including the Chair and the named investigators — votes simultaneously. Use thumbs (up = approve, down = reject) or vote tokens. Strict majority approves. Ties = rejected.

Phase 3 · The Hearing

Hand each named investigator one CLEAR and one SUBVERT card. They secretly choose one and play it face-down to the center. Loyal Americans must play CLEAR. Infiltrators may play either.

Shuffle the played cards before revealing them. Reveal all at once.

• All CLEAR → Hearing CLEARED. Place a CLEARED token on Hearing N.
• Any SUBVERT → Hearing COMPROMISED. Place a COMPROMISED token on Hearing N.

Move the Chair badge one seat to the left. Begin the next hearing.

Endgame§ 09

• 3 hearings CLEARED → Loyal Americans win. They may now formally accuse who they think the infiltrators were before the reveal.
• 3 hearings COMPROMISED → Infiltrators win. They reveal themselves.

Have all students reveal their role cards at the same moment. Resist the urge to do it one by one — the simultaneous reveal is the most powerful moment of the game.

Edge Cases & FAQ§ 10

"Can I show my card to prove I'm loyal?"

Absolutely not. If you allow this, the game is over. Hold the line. Tell them: "In 1953, no one could prove their innocence either. That's the point."

"What if everyone refuses to vote?"

An abstention is treated as a NAY. Tell them this in advance.

"What if a student gets upset that they're accused?"

This is the heart of the lesson. Acknowledge the discomfort. Tell them you'll return to that feeling in the debrief. Do not break character mid-game.

"Can I just always play CLEAR as an Infiltrator?"

You can — and sometimes you should, to build trust. But your team needs at least three COMPROMISED hearings. Pick your moments.

"What if the Chair refuses to propose a team?"

That counts as the 1st failed proposal. Pass the Chair badge.

Tips for Atmosphere§ 11

• Dress the part. Wear a blazer. Use a gavel — or a stapler.
• Use names for hearings. "Hearing 1 — the matter of Helen Brooks, alleged contact with foreign press." Make up a name for each hearing. The students will start identifying with the names.
• Call students "Mr." and "Ms." Use last names. Formality breeds gravity.
• Refuse to break character. If a student giggles, fix them with a stare. "Mr. Reyes. Is something amusing?"
• Pause before reveals. Count to three. Let the silence land.

Transition to Debrief§ 12

The moment the game ends, drop the persona. Smile. Thank them. Then open debrief.html on the projector and walk through 4–5 prompts. The transition from in-character to out-of-character is itself a teachable moment — point out how relieved they are to be themselves again, and ask them what that tells them about the people who lived through this.

END OF FACILITATOR DOCUMENT · GOOD HUNTING