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.
Starting Guilty as Sock! can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Guilty as Sock! is a simulation game built around Seven courtroom roles and Random evidence cards. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Judge | Good (but demanding) | Alternate prosecution and defense in short bursts, cut off anyone repeating themselves, and save the mute for people drowning out a good bit. |
| Prosecutor | Excellent for beginners | Open with the most absurdly specific charge you can defend, then hold your best card until the defense has locked itself into a story. |
| Defense Attorney | Excellent for beginners | Let the prosecutor overcommit, then read their own evidence back to them in the least helpful way you can manage. |
| Journalist | Situational | 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. |
| Bailiff | Situational | Stay quiet until somebody monopolizes the floor, then interrupt at the exact moment their argument was starting to land. |
Our recommendation: Start with Prosecutor. 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.
Avoid Bailiff as your first pick. The judge's enforcement arm and the best seat for a first game. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn 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.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Seven courtroom roles works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to 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.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Custom evidence decks: it's the most accessible early upgrade. 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.
Step 4: Understand 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.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to 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.
Essential Mechanics Explained
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.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. 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.
2. Judges who never mute anyone
Nine sock puppets shouting at once is unlistenable, and using the button is the job rather than a punishment.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Seven courtroom roles and Random evidence cards
- Choose Prosecutor as starting build
- Clear Default Trial courtroom main content
- Acquire Custom evidence decks or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Trial of the Crowns courtroom
- 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.
Tips for New Players
- 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.
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! Guilty as Sock! Overview
- Guilty as Sock! Best Builds
- Guilty as Sock! Tier List
- Guilty as Sock! Walkthrough
- 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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