Chor Police (चोर पुलिस) is a classic Nepali children's game played with folded paper slips torn from a school notebook. Every school and neighbourhood plays it a little differently; these are our house rules.

The slips

• 3 to 10 players. There is one folded slip per player: at least one चोर Chor (thief), at least one पुलिस Police, and everyone else is a नागरिक Citizen.
• The slips are shuffled and spread on the mat. Everyone picks one and looks at it secretly.
• The Police reveal themselves. Then everyone else says one line (the talk round): the Chor tries to bluff.
• Each Police then secretly names one suspect. A Chor is caught if any Police names them. Then all slips are opened.

Roles: how many of each

• On setup, choose the split with the Roles steppers. Citizens are everyone left over, so it always adds up.
• 2 Chor, 2 Police (and 2 Mantri) are allowed from 6 players. With 5 or fewer it is 1 of each. Auto brings back the default split.
• With 2 Police, they guess one after another without seeing each other's pick, and may name the same person.

Mode 1: Points (our default)

• Each Citizen +500 every round.
• Each Police who names a Chor: +1000; a wrong guess gets 0.
• Each Chor who is not caught: +1000; a caught Chor gets 0.
• Play 5 or 10 rounds. The highest total wins. (Point values modelled on Raja Mantri Chor Sipahi scoring.)

Mode 2: Elimination (the classic chit version)

• A caught Chor is out. A Police who names someone who isn't a Chor is out.
• Each round has one slip per player still in, so the pile gets smaller. If players drop to 5 or fewer, it goes back to 1 Chor and 1 Police.
• When only 2 players are left, both of them win.

Mode 3: Raja Mantri Chor Sipahi (राजा मन्त्री चोर सिपाही)

• 4 to 10 players. Slips: राजा Raja (always 1), मन्त्री Mantri (1, or 2 with 8 or more players by default), चोर Chor, सिपाही Police, and प्रजा Citizens for everyone else.
• The Raja reveals first and calls "मेरो सिपाही को हो?" (Who is my soldier?). The Police reveal, everyone else talks, and the Police name the Chor. The Raja can't be named.
• Points: Raja 1000, each Mantri 800, each Citizen 300. Each Police who names a Chor gets 500; each Chor who isn't caught gets 500 instead.
• Point values vary by region and family. This is one common version (in some places the Mantri does the guessing instead).

Ways to play

• Play vs bots: you and 2 to 9 bots. Bots that are nervous tend to say defensive things, and the bot Police notices, but not always.
• Pass & play: one phone, 3 to 10 people. Each player picks a slip, looks, then taps Fold & pass. A cover screen hides it before the next player takes the phone. Do the talking out loud!
• Create table: everyone uses their own phone. Friends scan the QR code or open the link. Empty seats are played by bots, and a bot takes over if someone leaves. The host's device runs the game, so the host should keep the page open.