The basic idea in Hoax is to pretend to be somebody you are not while working towards the goal of figuring out who other people are. Each player is assigned one of six different characters -- each with its own unique abilities -- but can pretend to be any character and use its corresponding powers. Abilities are used to acquire 3 different types of goods, which can be spent to get clues to opponents' identities. If the majority of the other players think you're pretending to be a character that you're not, you must either admit that you are not that character (and permanently lose the use of its power), or reveal that you are and win the game. - BoardGameGeek