A haunted ship full of liars
Paper Pirates is a social deduction party game set aboard a haunted pirate ship, and it runs for several days of voting, scheming and mutiny. Each pirate is either a human trying to sail home to shore or a ghost working against the crew, and nobody wears their allegiance on their sleeve. Every day the captain picks the crew they trust to play in, and those pirates can obey the captain or disobey them if they're looking to cause trouble. At the end of the day the whole crew votes to throw a pirate overboard. Toss a ghost and the humans can celebrate. Toss an innocent human and the spirit of the drowned haunts one of the pirates who accused them, turning that accuser into a ghost too. So every vote has teeth, and the crew has to decide how much they trust each other.
Nobody stays dead
Getting voted off is not the end of your voyage. A thrown-overboard pirate comes back on board as the ship's stowaway, which means you're still at the table and still talking. You can't win from the stowaway bunk, but if you convince the crew to throw someone else overboard you can rank up and earn a promotion back into the game. That keeps eliminated players involved instead of sitting out, and it gives ghosts another angle to work from. Phones act as the controllers, so everyone has their own private screen for the information they shouldn't be sharing out loud.
Three ways to sail
A Classic game is the original ghost hunting setup. A Scored game gives every pirate a secret objective and pays out coins to whoever proves toughest and meanest on the seven seas. A Trait game hands each pirate a secret trait that bends the rules to their whims. On top of that, the crew can face one of over sixty wild events each day, from exploring a desert island to travelling back in time, and the events change how the game plays. Every game can be customised: shorter or longer voyages, how events are chosen, how many ghosts you start with, and even a lineup of specific events you want to see.
Getting everyone aboard
One owner creates a lobby and shares the room code. Friends can join from a web browser on a PC, laptop, mobile phone or tablet without owning the game. Locally, or through Steam Remote Play Together and other screen sharing, you can play with people further away. Coins earned each session go to the Ship Shop, where Sam Sherbot's Outfit Shop sells outfit pieces and Nat O'Bother helps you customise and name your ship.