# Raja Mantri Chor Sipahi — find the thief

- From: Raja Mantri Chor Sipahi, a chit game played across India
- Players: 4 players
- Time: 5–8 min
- Made by: Traditional
- Rules from: As recorded by Seema Periwal and Ravi Poovaiah for D'Source, IDC, IIT Bombay

Made with boardgameBuilder 0.14.4. To design from it, open boardgameBuilder and choose Open game: its blocks go on the canvas, and the feelings are left for you to pick.

Four folded chits, four roles, one guess. The Raja and the Mantri show themselves, and the Mantri then has to read the faces of the last two players and say which one is the Chor. It is mostly a game of watching people.

## What it shows a designer

Four hidden roles and one guess: the whole game is reading faces. It shows how little rule a hidden-identity game needs, and how points can give each role a different stake.

## What you need

- 4 paper slips (chits)
- a pen
- paper to keep scores

## How to play

1. **Make the chits.** Write Raja 1000, Mantri 500, Sipahi 300 and Chor 0 on four slips. Fold them and mix them up.
2. **Draw in secret.** Each player draws one chit and reads it without showing anyone.
3. **Who is my Mantri?** The Raja shows their chit and calls out 'Mera Mantri kaun hai?' (Who is my minister?). The Mantri shows their chit.
4. **The guess.** The Mantri looks at the two players left and says which of them is the Chor.
5. **Score.** Everyone opens their chit. If the Mantri was right, everyone keeps the points on their chit. If wrong, the Mantri's 500 go to the Chor. Write down the scores, fold the chits again and redraw. After four rounds, the highest total wins.

## After playing, talk about

- What did you watch for when you guessed?
- As the Chor, what did you do with your face?
- Did the points change how you played?

## Where the rules are written down

- https://www.dsource.in/resource/indian-games/indoor-games/raja-mantri-chor-sipahi
- https://www.thegameshandbook.com/game/raja-mantri-chor-sipahi/

## Its blocks

- Victory condition: most points
- Information visibility: hidden identity
- Timing: take turns

## Saved state

boardgameBuilder reads this part back when the file is opened.

```json
{"mechanics": {"victory-condition": "most-points", "information": "hidden-identity", "timing": ["take-turns"]}, "chosenFeelings": [], "previousMechanics": {}, "previousFeelings": [], "turnNumber": 0, "locked": false, "turnHistory": [], "answers": {}, "tests": {}}
```