Traitor’s Party
The Idea —
My best girlfriend was coming to visit and she has always wanted to host a Traitors party. She’s been talking about it forever. So naturally, I told her- I’ll host it for you!
I had only watched three episodes of the show. And honestly? You don’t need more than that. Here’s the concept: a group of people come together, two of them are secretly Traitors, and everyone spends the evening trying to figure out who the bad guys are. You play games, you mingle, you collude in the kitchen, you burn years-long friendships to the ground. It is absolutely the most fun girls’ night I have ever hosted. And I’ve hosted a lot of girls’ nights!!
It’s like a murder mystery party but better, because the drama is organic. Nobody’s reading off a card. The chaos finds you all on its own.
How I Prepped —
I leaned all the way into the gothic, candlelit, fireplace aesthetic the show is known for. Candles everywhere. The fireplace going. Low lighting. I wanted my girls to walk in and immediately feel like something wicked was about to happen.
Before guests arrived, I printed everyone’s photo and framed them to hang on the wall as a display. It sounds dramatic and it is dramatic and that’s the point.
For the Traitor/Faithful reveal, I wrote “TRAITOR” and “FAITHFUL” on small slips of paper and placed them in a cup. At the start of the night, each guest came up one by one, drew their slip, read it privately, and said absolutely nothing. No reactions. No poker faces allowed to crack. The Traitors knew who they were from that moment on and so the game began.
One of my favorite DIY moments was the puzzle mission. I painted a replica of the show’s Round Table on a large piece of cardboard, then my husband cut it into pieces and hid them around the house with my daughters before the party. Team bonding as your very first challenge? Chef’s kiss. I tucked a “shield” under one of the pieces. Find it, and you’re protected from being murdered that round.
For the second game, I printed everyone’s face onto solo cups and lined them up on the edge of a table. Everyone was given a ping pong ball to throw at the cups. Last cup standing wins the shield. It was chaotic and competitive and exactly what I wanted.
For the third game, I placed three blocks in front of each player’s spot. On your turn, you move a block from your stack to someone else’s. Lose all your blocks and you’re out. The twist is that when there are only two players left, they’re done. They sit and watch while all the eliminated players come back and finish the game, deciding who wins the shield.
Between the games, I had heavy apps out so there was plenty of time to mingle, eat, and collude. Most of the scheming happened in the kitchen, which honestly is always where the best conversations happen anyway.
What We Ate/Drank —
I kept the food easy and grazeable! I did heavy apps that people could pick at during mingle time without needing to sit down for a full meal. Everything was out and ready so the party never had to stop for dinner.
We had lox crostini bites, deviled eggs (breakfast food is often featured in the show), crockpot meatballs for an easy warm bite, grapes, buffalo chicken egg rolls, and a Caesar salad. For dessert, cake and cookies to celebrate our winner.
The crockpot meatballs were the MVP honestly — minimal effort, always a crowd pleaser, and they kept warm all night without me having to think about them. That’s the kind of hosting I’m here for. You could also ask each friend to bring a dish to share!
Wine is a classic choice for this night, but we also made up a fun cocktail called “Murder in the Night” with vodka, pomegranate juice, ginger ale and lime.
How the Game Works —
The rotation goes like this: game → round table discussion + banishment vote → mingle → murder → repeat.
At the Round Table, everyone gets ten minutes to discuss, accuse, and theorize. Then you vote to banish the person you think is a Traitor. The player with the most votes steps up to the Doorway of Truth and reveals their identity: Faithful or Traitor. The reaction from the room? Priceless every time!!
The murder mechanic is my personal favorite part. I gathered everyone at the table, had them bring their phones, and told them to turn around. The Traitors secretly texted me, the host, with the name of whoever they wanted to murder. Then I sent everyone off to mingle again and started tapping shoulders one by one to bring people back to the table as “safe.” The last person I didn’t tap? Murdered. The dramatic realization of who was missing as everyone gathered back at the table was one of the best moments of the whole night.
The game ends when either all the Traitors have been banished, or the Traitors outnumber the Faithfuls. In our case, our winner was not only a Traitor, but someone who had never seen the show a single time in her life. Proof that you truly do not need to know Traitors to play or to host.
At the end, I showered the winner in fake money. Absolutely necessary.
Extra Details —
Music makes everything. I played the “Traitors Soundtrack” playlist on Spotify throughout the night. It sets the perfect tone from the moment guests walk in to the final reveal. Dark, cinematic, and dramatic in the best way. Search “Traitors Soundtrack” on Spotify and you’ll find it.
This is a theme party, so lean in! I put together an Amazon outfit inspiration board with everything you need to dress the part. Think dark florals, rich jewel tones, velvet, and anything that says “I would absolutely never betray you” while absolutely betraying everyone. Check it out here.
If you want the full experience without having to build it from scratch, I put together three printable PDFs available in my Etsy shop here. (use code FOLLOWER for a steep discount!)
