The Interrogation
The Interrogation is a scene game structured as a police questioning, with one player as detective and another as suspect. The interrogation format provides built-in tension, power dynamics, and the need to extract or conceal information. The game rewards strong status play and the ability to build suspense through dialogue.
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Related Games
Boris
Boris is a short-form interrogation game in which a police commissioner questions a suspect who does not know what crime they have committed. The commissioner drops clues while threatening to summon Boris, a fearsome unseen enforcer, whenever the suspect fails to incriminate themselves. The suspect must piece together the nature of their crime and confess to end the scene.
Detective
Detective is a guessing game in which one player takes the role of an investigator while the remaining performers hold secret information about a crime, event, or scenario. The detective pieces together the story through questioning, observation, and deduction while the other performers communicate information indirectly through behavior, dialogue, and scene work rather than stating the answer directly. The game trains deductive reasoning, indirect communication, and the ability to convey information through subtext and physicality. Detective rewards both the guessing player's analytical skill and the ensemble's ability to provide clear, playable clues without giving the answer away.
Only Questions
Only Questions is a scene game in which performers must communicate exclusively through questions. Any player who makes a statement, hesitates too long, or repeats a question structure is replaced. The game was popularized by Whose Line Is It Anyway and has roots in Keith Johnstone's TheatreSports. It trains quick thinking and the ability to advance a scene without declarative dialogue.
Crime Endowments
Crime Endowments is a short-form guessing game in which one player must determine a secret crime, weapon, and location through clues embedded in the other players' behavior. The endowed players know the secret combination and weave references to the crime, weapon, and location into natural-seeming conversation and action, while the guesser asks questions and observes their behavior to deduce the combination.
Questions Only
Questions Only is a scene game in which performers must communicate exclusively through questions. Any player who makes a declarative statement, hesitates, or repeats a question pattern is replaced by another performer. The game has roots in Keith Johnstone's TheatreSports and was popularized by Whose Line Is It Anyway. It trains quick thinking and the ability to advance scenes without statements.
Secrets Endowment
Secrets Endowment is a short-form game in which performers are given secret information about their characters that they must reveal through behavior and hints rather than direct statement. The tension between concealment and disclosure drives the comedy. The game trains the skill of communicating subtext and rewards both subtle clue-giving and attentive scene reading.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). The Interrogation. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/the-interrogation
The Improv Archive. "The Interrogation." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/the-interrogation.
The Improv Archive. "The Interrogation." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/the-interrogation. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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