Demon Max released Guilty as Sock! on 29 May 2025, and the concept is one line long: everyone is a sock puppet, someone is on trial, and the crime is whatever the prosecutor decided in private. Up to nine players fill seven roles running from judge and prosecutor down to bailiff, journalist and juror, while evidence cards are dealt at random rather than earned. It sits at Very Positive on Steam across more than 2,600 reviews. The joke only works if the whole table commits to it.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Seven courtroom roles
A lobby of up to nine players fills judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, witness, bailiff, journalist and juror. Three is the working minimum, since a trial needs a judge and two lawyers. Everything else is flavor and chaos.
Random evidence cards
The prosecutor privately picks the suspect and the crime, then both sides are dealt evidence cards at random. You argue from whatever nonsense landed in your hand, which is exactly why the game rewards improvisation over preparation.
Judge gavel controls
The judge hands out speaking turns with colored buttons, calls and dismisses witnesses, mutes anyone who will not stop, and delivers the verdict. It is the most powerful seat in the lobby and the one that decides whether a trial is funny or just loud.
Breaking News headlines
The journalist can publish up to three Breaking News posts per trial, and each one enters the record as usable evidence. A headline dropped at the right moment can hand the defense a fact the prosecutor never wanted mentioned.
Jury verdict vote
Jurors play no cards. They heckle, comment, and then vote guilty or not guilty when the arguments run out. In streamer mode, Twitch chat can be seated as the jury instead.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Guilty as Sock! combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judge | S | Alternate prosecution and defense in short bursts, cut off anyone repeating themselves, and save the mute for people drowning out a good bit. | Pacing first, then fairness, then knowing when to let chaos run |
| Prosecutor | A | Open with the most absurdly specific charge you can defend, then hold your best card until the defense has locked itself into a story. | Commitment to the accusation, then volume control, then timing |
| Defense Attorney | A | Let the prosecutor overcommit, then read their own evidence back to them in the least helpful way you can manage. | Reaction speed, then contradiction spotting, then nerve |
| Journalist | B | Publish one early to frame the case, hold one for the middle when a side gets stuck, and save the last for just before the jury votes. | Timing above everything, then headline wording |
| Bailiff | B | Stay quiet until somebody monopolizes the floor, then interrupt at the exact moment their argument was starting to land. | Reading the room, then throw timing |
Judge (S-Tier): The seat with all the control. You allocate speaking turns, call and dismiss witnesses, mute anyone monopolizing the floor, and deliver the verdict, which means the trial's entire rhythm belongs to you.
Prosecutor (A-Tier): You choose the suspect and the crime in private, then argue it with cards you did not pick. Whatever accusation you invent sets the tone for the whole lobby, so specific and ridiculous beats broad and safe.
Defense Attorney (A-Tier): Countering a case built from random cards means poking holes rather than proving anything. Confusing the jury is an explicitly valid path to victory here, which is not true of most games with courtrooms in them.
Journalist (B-Tier): Three Breaking News posts per trial, each of which enters the record as evidence. You have no speaking turn to defend, which makes you the least interrupted and quietly the most influential player in the room.
Bailiff (B-Tier): The judge's enforcement arm and the best seat for a first game. You throw paper, you mute people when the judge permits it, and you effectively decide who gets to finish a sentence.
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Guilty as Sock! builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence cards | Dealt at random to prosecution and defense, then shown to the court when the judge admits them. | Prosecutors and defense attorneys building a story from nothing |
| Custom evidence decks | Players can build their own decks out of square JPEG images with a title and description. | Regular groups who want their own running gags in court |
| Breaking News posts | The journalist gets three per trial and each becomes usable evidence. | Journalists steering a verdict without ever getting a speaking turn |
| Paper balls | Paper sits on the desks and can be thrown to stun another player briefly, cutting a speech off mid-sentence. | Interrupting a prosecutor who is actually winning |
| The gavel | Less a prop than a control panel. | Judges keeping a nine player lobby intelligible |
Evidence cards: Dealt at random to prosecution and defense, then shown to the court when the judge admits them. Their contents rarely have anything to do with the accusation, so the skill is inventing a connection out loud faster than anyone can object.
Custom evidence decks: Players can build their own decks out of square JPEG images with a title and description. Decks save locally and can be shared with friends, which is how groups turn private jokes into admissible evidence.
Breaking News posts: The journalist gets three per trial and each becomes usable evidence. Publish early and you set the frame everyone argues inside. Publish late and it lands as a surprise either side can grab.
Paper balls: Paper sits on the desks and can be thrown to stun another player briefly, cutting a speech off mid-sentence. The bailiff throws the most of it, but nothing stops a bored juror joining in.
The gavel: Less a prop than a control panel. Turn allocation, witness calls, mutes and the verdict all run through it, and a judge who never uses the mute produces a trial nobody in the lobby can hear.
Full breakdowns in our Guilty as Sock! weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Default Trial courtroom | Any lobby from 3 to 9 players | Fastest room for teaching the roles to newcomers |
| Trial of the Crowns courtroom | Any lobby, best with 6 or more | Fresh setting for groups bored of the default room |
| Cosmic Order courtroom | Any lobby, best with 6 or more | A tone reset for long sessions |
| The judge's bench | One player per trial | Full control of pacing and the final verdict |
| The witness stand | One or more players per trial | A single high impact statement that can flip the jury |
Default Trial courtroom: The starting map and the one every new lobby learns on. Prosecution and defense desks face the bench with nothing else going on, which keeps attention on the argument rather than the scenery.
Trial of the Crowns courtroom: A themed courtroom with a royal setting. It changes the tone of the roleplay more than any rule, and groups reliably escalate their accusations to match the decor.
Cosmic Order courtroom: A space themed room, cosmetic rather than mechanical. Useful for shoving a group toward more absurd cases once the jokes have started repeating.
The judge's bench: Not a map, but the seat that decides everything. From the bench you control speaking turns, witness calls, mutes and the ruling, so a bad judge wrecks a trial faster than a bad lawyer ever could.
The witness stand: A short speaking window where a player testifies for either side or derails the whole thing. Witnesses are called and dismissed by the judge, so the value of the seat depends entirely on being called at the right moment.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Take the judge seat if your group is new. The judge controls who speaks and when, and a lobby without a judge willing to use the mute button turns into nine people talking at once inside a minute.
- The prosecutor picks the suspect and the crime privately, so pick something specific and absurd. A vague accusation gives the defense nothing to push against and the trial stalls before the first card is played.
- Do not try to make your evidence card fit. Cards are dealt at random and a forced explanation is funnier than a plausible one. That gap is the entire design of the game.
- Journalists should hold at least one Breaking News post in reserve. You get three per trial, and one landing while the jury is deliberating is worth more than all three published in the opening minutes.
- Keep a notepad open beside you. The game rewards catching contradictions between what a witness said two minutes ago and what the prosecutor claimed just now, and nothing in the interface tracks that for you.
- Paper balls are about timing, not damage. A stun that cuts off a closing argument mid-sentence beats three thrown at somebody who was not talking anyway.
- Build a custom deck before your group's third session. Decks are square JPEGs with a title and a description, they save locally, and sharing one turns your group's in-jokes into court evidence.
- Play the bailiff if you are new and nervous. Low pressure, you get paper to throw and mute powers when the judge allows, and you learn the flow of a trial without having to argue anything.
- Rotate the judge every trial. It carries the most control and by far the most work, and a group where the same person always judges will burn that person out inside an evening.
- Use voice chat rather than text. The whole game is interruption, tone and talking over people, so a text-only lobby loses most of what makes a trial land.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Arguing seriously. A prosecutor who builds a coherent legal case is playing a different game to everyone else, and coherent cases are not what juries here vote for.
- Judges who never mute anyone. Nine sock puppets shouting at once is unlistenable, and using the button is the job rather than a punishment.
- Journalists dumping all three headlines in the first minute. Once the posts are spent, the role has nothing left to do for the rest of the trial.
- Jurors going quiet. Jurors cannot play cards, so heckling and commentary are their whole contribution, and a silent jury box turns the trial into a two person argument.
- Filling every seat before the group knows the rules. Start with three players, one judge and two lawyers, and add the witness, journalist and bailiff once everyone knows what the gavel does.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players do you need for Guilty as Sock?
Three is the working minimum: a judge, a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Lobbies hold up to nine, and the extra seats go to the witness, bailiff, journalist and jurors.
What are all the roles?
Seven of them. Judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, witness, bailiff, journalist and juror. The judge runs the trial, the two lawyers play evidence cards, the journalist publishes headlines that become evidence, the bailiff keeps order, and jurors vote on the verdict.
Is there anything to play solo?
No. It is built entirely around live online multiplayer between people arguing, with no offline campaign or bot lobby to practise against.
Can my Twitch chat take part?
Yes. There is a streamer mode where chat can be seated as the jury and vote on the verdict, which is how a good chunk of the game's audience found it in the first place.
Do I need to be good at improvisation?
It helps, but the random evidence cards do most of the heavy lifting. Being handed a card with nothing to do with the accusation and saying so out loud is usually funnier than any clever argument you could have prepared.
More Guilty as Sock! Guides
- Guilty as Sock! Best Builds
- Guilty as Sock! Tier List
- Guilty as Sock! Walkthrough
- Guilty as Sock! Beginner's Guide
- Guilty as Sock! Tips & Tricks
- Guilty as Sock! Weapons Guide
- Guilty as Sock! Combat Guide
- Guilty as Sock! Boss Guide
- Guilty as Sock! Maps & Locations
- Guilty as Sock! Crafting Guide
- Guilty as Sock! Classes & Characters
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