Jolly Commons: Everybody In, a Lantern Party Game

About Jolly Commons: Everybody In

Every autumn the Jolly Commons rolls into town: a travelling fair of striped tents, a slow wheel and a string of paper lanterns that hangs between the poles. The Lantern Walk is how the fair says goodnight. Friends walk it together, stall by stall, and the whole walk is one team.

At each stall a shelf of nine curios waits, and one of them is the secret. All but one of you know which. The odd one out is the Lost Traveller, who has wandered in from another lane and has no idea. Everyone, lost or not, hangs one clue lantern on the string: a phrase picked from a hand of four, such as it crunches or comes on a stick. The walkers who know the curio hang true lanterns. The Lost Traveller can only guess what sounds safe.

Read the string, then vote in secret for who you think is lost. Find them and the Traveller gets to name the curio, which lights a lantern for everybody. Five stalls make a walk, and three lit lanterns make it a good one. The fair adds a rule each night: a clear sky, a drizzle that thins your hand, or a moon that helps the lost.

Pass the device round one person at a time, or walk alone with the fair’s own bots in the other seats. There is no clock, no chat and nothing to type: only lanterns, a vote and a short walk. A match takes about five minutes, and your walk is saved on this device.

How to play

Choose how many walkers sit at the table, and how many of them are people on this device. Bots take the other seats.
Pass the device round. When it is your turn, look at your hand in private: a walker sees the secret curio, the Lost Traveller does not.
Pick one clue lantern from your hand of four (or three in a drizzle) and hide it again before you pass.
The whole string is shown, and the shelf counts how many lanterns agree with each curio. Talk it over.
Vote in secret for who you think is the Lost Traveller. If the table finds them, they name the curio.
Every found Traveller lights a lantern. Light three of the five to finish the walk well.

Controls

Tap the button on your turn, or press Enter — show your hand in private
Tap a lantern or a walker, or press 1 to 6 — pick it; then hide the hand and pass
Tap a curio, or use the arrows and Enter — name the curio when you are found
Arrow keys or D-pad — move between buttons; Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

Do I need friends to play?

No. Choose one person on this device and bots fill the other seats, so you can walk alone. With friends, pass the device round: only the person whose turn it is sees their hand.

What does the Lost Traveller do?

They do not know the secret curio, so they hang a lantern that sounds safe and listen. If the table finds them, they get to name the curio from the lanterns on the string.

Is anyone against anyone?

No. Everybody is on one team and scores together. Each walker also earns small marks for right votes and telling lanterns, shown in the results.

Can I play a friend on another device?

Each table has a six-letter code. Type the same code on another device and you both get the same deals, so you can compare a walk. Nothing is sent anywhere.