How to make friends by lying to them

Sometimes the best way to make friends is to lie.

Around the world, people are gathering together to try to figure out if the person next to them is on their side — or is trying to double-cross them.

By the end of the process, trickery or no, they’re deeply bonded.

Social deduction games (and the related sister category social deception games) have been around for decades and come in a myriad of formats, including Mafia, Werewolf, and the newer entry, Blood on the Clocktower .

Their defining trait is that some players have hidden roles, and the rest of the players have to work out who those people are through social interactions: hinting, lying, interrogating, deducing, obfuscating.

If you’ve seen The Traitors , you get the gist.

Key takeaways In social deduction games, some players have secret roles.

Everyone else has to find out who they are through social interaction.

With The Traitors a big TV hit and Blood on the Clocktower taking over the nerd internet, these games are trending up.

Experts say that playing games that encourage you to play anti-social roles can create pro-social bonds.

They also give players a way to practice conflict in a low-stakes space — an especially powerful tool at a time when Americans are so isolated and polarized.

Longtime players say these games have allowed them to build deep and meaningful friendships.

Right now, this whole category is trending up.

The most recent season premiere of The Traitors in the US drew 638 million viewing minutes in January on Peacock.