Word Tiles
1–8 players · 10 min · best with four
One board. Everybody at once. Six rounds.
Games for eight people at once
Eight chairs, all of them playing. Nothing here puts the last two people into an audience.
45 of 59 on the shelf
Bowl of Nouns
4–12 players · 20 min · best with six or eight
The same twenty-four words, three times, and worse every time.
Word Chain
1–12 players · 10 min · best with three or four
COLD to WARM in four. You have two and a half minutes.
Our Words
4–12 players · 20 min · best with six
One word. Say it well.
Secret Codes
1–8 players · 15 min · best with two
One board. Two keys. Nine turns.
The Steal
1–8 players · 10 min · best with four
Eighteen letters. Take them off each other.
Category Rush
2–12 players · 15 min · best with four or five
The obvious answer is worth nothing.
Quest of Shadows
5–10 players · 20 min · best with seven
Somebody at this table is lying to you, and they are very good at it.
Nine Letters
1–12 players · 10 min · best with five, and a chancer to lose to
Nine tiles. Thirty seconds. The longest word takes it.
Common Threads
1–8 players · 10 min · best with four, and somebody who says the quiet one out loud
Everyone can see all sixteen words. Nobody can see which four go together.
Shades
3–10 players · 15 min · best with five or six
One word. Four hundred and eighty colours. Go.
Most of Us
3–12 players · 15 min · best with five or six
Nobody can revise for this one.
Out of Place
3–8 players · 20 min · best with five or six
One of you is lying. Twenty minutes to find out.
The Needle
2–12 players · 15 min · best with five or six
Say one thing. Find out how differently eight people hear it.
Say It Once
3–8 players · 15 min · best with five or six
You all had the same good idea. That is exactly what went wrong.
The Cable
4–12 players · 20 min · best with six
Say enough. Not one word more.
Ten Rows
1–12 players · 15 min · best with anyone, in any language
No words. No reading. Ten rows and a hidden code.
Small Hours
3–10 players · 10 min · best with five or six
One night. One vote. Nobody sits out.
Forbidden Words
4–12 players · 15 min · best with six or eight
Say what it is. Without saying any of the five words you were going to.
The Shake
1–12 players · 10 min · best with four, and one bot you resent
Everyone can see every letter. Almost nobody sees the same words.
Minesweeper
1–8 players · 5 min · best with anyone, including nobody
The one you already know. Minus the part where it makes you guess.
Sixth Takes
2–10 players · 20 min · best with five or six
Everybody plays at once. Somebody is about to regret it.
Pool
1–8 players · 15 min · best with two for eight-ball, four for nine-ball, up to eight for killer.
Drag back, let go, and watch it run. Solids or stripes; call the eight.
Oddword
4–8 players · 15 min · best with six
Everyone has the same word. Except one of you — and they don't know it.
Charades
3–8 players · 15 min · best with five
One person acts. Everybody else types.
Napkin
3–8 players · 15 min · best with five
One person draws. Everybody else types.
Anagram Relay
1–8 players · 12 min · best with four
Three letters to nine. Everybody carries the same baton.
Down the Line
3–8 players · 15 min · best with six
Everybody draws at once. Nothing survives the trip.
One Line Each
3–8 players · 12 min · best with five
One sheet, one line each, and nobody can see anybody.
Blank Canvas
4–8 players · 15 min · best with six
One of you was never told what everybody is drawing.
Ask a Hundred
3–8 players · 10 min · best with five
One guess each, against a board that was written before you sat down.
Hands Up
3–12 players · 10 min · best with six
Everybody answers at once. The points are for knowing how it would land.
Six Tries
2–8 players · 13 min · best with four
One word, six rows each, and the whole room is on the same one.
Near Enough
3–8 players · 15 min · best with five or six
You do not have to be right. You have to back whoever is.
Straight Face
3–8 players · 15 min · best with five or six
One of these answers is real. The rest are people you work with.
Title Cards
3–8 players · 20 min · best with six
Everybody draws at once. Then you name each other's.
Left Turn
1–8 players · 5 min · best with four
Take the wheel. Cross the traffic. Beat the finish time.
Held Ground
1–8 players · 15 min · best with four
A real strategy war. One coffee break.
Hostile Takeover
5–10 players · 25 min · best with seven
Somebody in this meeting is buying the company, and they need your vote.
Sounds Right
3–8 players · 15 min · best with five
Five convincing answers, one of them already true.
Two Lines
4–8 players · 15 min · best with six
One prompt, two answers, and the room decides which of them it would rather have said.
Last Word
3–12 players · 15 min · best with six
Fill in the blank and hope the right person is reading.
Live Wire
2–8 players · 10 min · best with five
Everybody has to draw. The pile is only getting shorter.
Daydream
3–8 players · 15 min · best with five or six
Six strange pictures each, and one line that has to be half understood.
Round of Ten
1–12 players · 10 min · best with five or six
Ten questions nobody had to be taught the answers to.