How to play Russian Roulette on one phone

Two to eight names. One phone. One live round in a six-chamber cylinder. Pass it, hold to pull, and see who is left.

Set the roster

Pick a count from 2 to 8 and type a name in each slot. Names stop at 12 characters and no two can match. The game remembers the last roster you used. Tap Start game and the phone spins through the names to pick who goes first.

Pass the phone

A full-screen card names one player and tints the screen in their colour. The button says “I'm” and that name. Only the person holding the phone should tap it. This is what stops the wrong player firing.

Take your turn

The turn screen shows who is still in, the cylinder, and the odds for this pull as 1 in N. You get one choice before you pull: Spin. A spin re-loads the live round into a random chamber and puts the odds back to the start, then you must pull. Each player gets one Spin per game by default, and you can change that in Settings.

To pull, press and hold the button for one second while a ring fills. Let go early and nothing happens. After the ring fills, the phone counts 3, 2, 1 over a heartbeat that speeds up, goes silent for a beat, and then shows the result. There is no taking it back once the count starts.

Survive

A dry click means that chamber was empty. You stay in. The cylinder does not reload, so the next player faces the same cylinder one chamber further on, at shorter odds. After two seconds the phone goes back to the pass screen.

The odds page shows how the numbers climb.

Bang

A bang means that chamber was the live one. That player is out, shown with a flash and the card going dark, not anything graphic. The group taps Continue when ready. A new cylinder is loaded and the next player still in starts it, so the seat that goes first rotates through the game.

Win

The last player in wins. The winner screen shows pulls survived, Spins used and the closest call, meaning the shortest odds they lived through. Play again keeps the names and picks a new first player. Share result sends a text summary only.

The questions page covers sound, vibration, Tap to pull for anyone who cannot hold, and reduced motion.