Getting started
You're the receptionist at Oddball Industries. People who want to get into the building walk up to your desk one at a time. Look at their appearance, what they say, and their name tag, then decide: Let in or Turn away. You score points for letting in real guests and employees and for turning away impostors.
Tap “Clock in” on the title screen to start your shift. The game is designed for a phone held upright, but it works in a computer browser too.
How a shift goes
- A shift lasts 90 seconds. The number in the top left is the time left, and it turns red at 15 seconds or less
- 16 visitors come to the desk, picked at random from a cast of 28 (11 real, 17 impostors). Who shows up, and in what order, changes every time
- The line at the top (“Visitors waiting: …”) shows how many people are left
- When you decide, a stamp such as “Welcome!” or “Denied!” appears, and the next person steps up a moment later. The clock keeps running during the stamp
The three actions and scoring
| Action | Visitor | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Let in | Real | “Welcome!” +100 pts |
| Impostor | “Fooled!” −200 pts, and you lose one office peace | |
| Turn away | Impostor | “Denied!” +150 pts |
| Real | “Complaint!” −100 pts (office peace stays the same) | |
| Call inside | — | 5 seconds come off the clock, and you hear how someone in the office reacts |
You can call inside once per visitor. The reaction tells you whether the visitor is legit, for example: Dave in IT: “We don't have a Chad. Also, IT never asks anyone for their password.” Even after the call, the decision is still up to you.
Your score can go below zero.
Office peace
The 🏢 icons in the top right are your office peace. You start with three, and each time you let an impostor in, one of them turns into 🔥. Turning away a real visitor doesn't cost office peace, but it does cost points.
How a shift ends
Your shift ends, and the results screen appears, when one of these happens:
- You handled all 16 visitors: “Everyone handled! Out on time!”
- The 90 seconds ran out: “Quitting time!”
- All three office peace are gone (you let in three impostors): “The company is in shambles.” This ends the shift on the spot, even if time is left
The results screen and the Evening Bulletin
The results screen shows your score for the day and how many right calls you made. Below that, the “Oddball Industries Evening Bulletin” lists the day's blunders as headlines.
- 🔥 When you let in an impostor: what they got up to, such as “Entire contents of the company safe replaced with acorns”
- 💢 When you turned away a real visitor: what happened because of it, such as “Sales Director (a cat) sulks outside; quarterly sales plummet”
- If you made no blunders: “Nothing happened today. The receptionist gets a bonus!”
Tap “Work another day” to play again with a new lineup.
What's a good score?
If you get all 16 visitors right, your score depends on how many real visitors and impostors showed up that day, and lands between 1,850 and 2,400 pts (1,850 on a day when all 11 real visitors come; 2,400 if all 16 are impostors). But calling inside for everyone would take 5 seconds × 16 = 80 seconds, and you'd run out of time. Choosing when to make that call is where the skill comes in.
Tips for spotting impostors
- Look at what they want: passwords, the safe combination, Accounting's bank details, the server room, everyone's personal info… Anyone asking for something you'd never hand out at a front desk is almost always a fake
- Watch out for rushing and name-dropping: “We've got a virus, right now!” or “The CEO told me to.” People who don't give you time to think are suspicious
- The Chameleon borrows real people's names: Gloria from cleaning, the TV crew, and Emma the new hire all have impostor twins. Look for a fake mustache, a red nose, a cape, or anything else that doesn't match what they say
- Weigh the risk when you're stuck: letting in an impostor costs 200 pts and office peace, while turning away a real visitor costs 100 pts. If you really can't decide, turning them away hurts less
- Save your calls for the tough ones: 5 seconds is a lot. Decide quickly on the obvious ones and keep time in the bank
Saving your record
Only your best score is saved, in your own browser. The title screen shows it as “Best so far: … pts.” The game doesn't save a shift in progress, so reloading the page starts over. Your record is never sent anywhere.
Where the visitors' tricks come from
The impostors in this game are over-the-top comedy, but their tricks are based on real “social engineering”: ways people deceive others to get information or get into a building.
- Impersonation and pretexting: posing as IT support, the CEO, or a business partner to gain trust
- Pressure from authority or urgency: “The CEO's orders,” “right now,” to keep you from thinking
- Getting in without a badge: “I forgot my badge,” “you know my face”
- Baiting: getting you to plug in a USB stick or swap in “free” equipment
- Requests for personal info or money: bank account numbers, birthdays, Social Security numbers
All visitors, companies, and people in this game are fictional. The game's decisions are no substitute for real front-desk or security procedures. In real life, follow your workplace's rules.