Bunker

4–12 Players

30–60 Min

Mission Brief

A catastrophe has hit the surface, and the only shelter has room for just some of you. In Bunker, every player becomes a randomly generated survivor - a profession, a state of health, an age, a phobia, a hobby, the things they managed to carry in, and one fact nobody saw coming. Round by round you reveal who you are, argue your case and vote out the people the group can't afford to keep. Nightroom runs the whole game in your browser with built-in voice chat: no cards, no moderator and no registration.

Rules: How to Play

1

The catastrophe is revealed

Every game opens with a random scenario: what destroyed the surface, how many months you must survive underground, the bunker's size and the facilities already inside, such as a medical bay or a seed vault. You also see how many spots there are - by default half the players get in, and everyone else has to be voted out.

2

You become a survivor

Each player receives eight hidden traits and two action cards. Only you can see them at first. Your job is to decide what to reveal, when to reveal it, and what to keep quiet for as long as possible.

3

Solo speeches

Players speak one at a time on a timer (60 seconds by default) while everyone else is muted. During your speech you must reveal at least one trait - if the timer runs out first, the game waits until you do. Use the time to show why the bunker needs you.

4

Open discussion

Everyone's microphone opens and the group debates freely (5 minutes by default). This is where alliances form, weak points get exposed and action cards change the picture. The room owner can end the discussion early.

5

The vote

Each remaining player votes for the person they want to leave the bunker. The player with the most votes is expelled. If nobody receives a vote, no one leaves this round.

6

Last words

The expelled player gets a final speech before stepping outside. Their revealed traits stay on the board, so the group can see exactly what it gave up.

7

Repeat until the bunker is full

Rounds of speeches, discussion and voting continue until enough players have been expelled to match the number of spots. Everyone still inside at that moment survives - and wins.

Goal of the game

Get a place in the bunker. There are no teams and no hidden roles - every player plays for themselves, and the survivors are simply the people still inside when the last spot is decided. You don't need a perfect survivor to win. You need to look more useful than someone else at every vote, and that comes down to persuasion and timing as much as to the traits you were dealt.

Your survivor's traits

Every survivor is built from eight traits, generated at random at the start of the game:

Profession: Your job and years of experience - a surgeon with 20 years behind them argues very differently from a crypto trader with two.
Health: Your physical condition. Some conditions come with a severity percentage, so asthma at 10% is a very different problem from asthma at 90%.
Age & sex: Matters for any long stay underground and for every argument about rebuilding humanity afterwards.
Phobia: A fear that can be harmless - or fatal in a sealed concrete room. Claustrophobia in a bunker is hard to explain away.
Hobby: A skill outside your profession - often the surprise argument that changes a vote.
Baggage: The small item you carried in: a water filter or a full course of antibiotics - or a selfie stick and a fashion magazine collection.
Large equipment: Something big you brought with you: a generator, a hydroponic growing system, a weapons cache. Some survivors have none.
Fact: One personal detail that can turn a game around: you survived a nuclear disaster, you hold three PhDs, or you are wanted in two countries.

Once revealed, a trait stays visible to everyone for the rest of the game.

Action cards

Every player is dealt two random action cards from a deck of fifteen. Each card can be played once, and choosing the right moment is half the game.

Fate Rewritten: All of your traits are rerolled with new random values.
Forced Confession: Make another player reveal a trait of your choice right now.
Identity Swap: Swap one trait with another player.
Light Fingers: Take another player's baggage. They are left with nothing.
Heavy Haul: Take another player's large equipment.
Untouchable: You can't be expelled in the next vote, however many votes you receive.
Silenced: Another player can't vote in the next vote.
Influential: Your vote counts twice in the next vote.
Miracle Cure: Make any player completely healthy.
Career Change: Reroll the profession of any player, including yourself.
Rewrite History: Replace any player's fact with a new one.
Floor Is Yours: Give any player an extra speech right after the current speaker.
Time Warp: Swap your age with another player's.
Secret Passage: Add a new facility to the bunker.
Open Book: Reveal all of your own traits at once.

Voting and ties

Most votes: The player with the most votes is expelled.
No votes: If no one receives a vote - or every player with votes is protected by Untouchable - nobody is expelled and a new round of speeches begins.
A tie: Tied players each give a short tie-break speech, then everyone votes again between them only.
Another tie: If the revote is still tied, one of the tied players is chosen at random.
Card effects: A Silenced player skips the next vote, an Influential player's vote counts twice, and an Untouchable player can't be expelled in it.

How the game ends

The number of players to expel is fixed at the start: everyone minus the available spots. With 10 players and the default 50%, five players get in and five must be voted out. The moment the last of them is expelled, the game ends - everyone still inside survives and wins together. The results screen then shows every survivor's full card, hidden traits included, so you can see who really deserved their place.

Room settings

The room owner can tune the game before it starts:

Bunker capacity: 20–80% of players get a spot (50% by default).
Speech time: 30–120 seconds per solo speech (60 by default).
Discussion time: 2–10 minutes of open debate per round (5 by default).
Vote time: 10–60 seconds to vote (10 by default).
Last words: 15–120 seconds for the expelled player (60 by default).
Survivor ages: The youngest and oldest ages a survivor can be generated with.

Bunker supports 4 to 12 players.

Tips and strategy

Play to the catastrophe: A zombie outbreak makes weapons and a medic priceless; a famine makes the agronomist untouchable. Reveal what answers the scenario on the table.
Plan your reveal order: You must reveal at least one trait every speech, so decide early which strengths to lead with and how long you can keep your weakest trait hidden.
Don't be the easiest vote: Groups usually expel the most obvious liability first. You don't have to be the best survivor - just not the worst one whose cards are already on the table.
Build alliances: A doctor argues for a nurse, a farmer for a botanist. Survivors who need each other tend to protect each other at the vote.
Time your cards: Save Untouchable for the round you would lose, and use Forced Confession on the player who is clearly hiding something.

Pro Tip

Choose which trait to reveal based on what the group already fears. If everyone is worried about illness, lead with your health. If the bunker is cramped, your equipment matters more than your profession. The order you reveal in tells a story - make it a convincing one.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Bunker game?

Bunker is a discussion party game about survival. Each player is a survivor with random traits, the shelter has room for only some of them, and the group votes out the people it can live without until the bunker is full.

How many players do you need?

Nightroom supports 4 to 12 players. Games with 6 to 10 are the most fun: enough voices for a real debate, and enough rounds for alliances to matter.

How long does a game take?

Usually 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the number of players and the timers the room owner sets.

Do I need to register or download anything?

No. Bunker runs in your browser. You can play as a guest by choosing a name and an avatar, and voice chat is built in.

Is there a host or moderator?

No moderator is needed. Nightroom handles the scenario, timers, turn order and voting automatically. The room owner can change settings, pause the game or end the discussion early.

What happens if I don't reveal a trait during my speech?

Revealing a trait is mandatory. If your timer runs out first, the game waits for you to reveal one before it moves on.

Can I play privately with friends?

Yes. Create a room and share its code with your friends - or browse the public lobbies to play with new people.

How is Bunker different from Mafia?

Mafia has two hidden teams and is built around deception and deduction. Bunker has no teams: everyone plays for themselves and wins by persuasion, so both honesty and spin can work.

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