How to play Our Words

Twenty-five words, and a key two people can see

The words are laid out face up where everybody can see them. Behind them is a key that only one person on each side ever sees: nine words are the first side's, eight are the second's, seven belong to nobody, and one loses the game on the spot for whoever touches it.

The key never reaches anybody else's browser. Two deals differing only in the other side's key are byte-identical from your seat, and a test in the suite fails if that stops being true.

One word and one number, and then silence

The key-holder says a single word and a number. Their side touches that many words, plus one more if they are feeling brave. Touch one of yours and keep going; touch a stranger's and the turn is over; touch one of theirs and you have just helped them.

They may not explain, may not hint, and may not react. Watching six colleagues walk confidently towards the wrong word is the price of the job.

The gap between what you meant and what they heard

That gap is the entire game, and it is larger than anybody expects. First side to find all of theirs wins — unless somebody touches the word that ends it, which ends it for their own side.

Most of a round is spent talking, which is why it plays so well on a call: the board is on the screen and the argument is on the line.

Questions people ask

Is this the two-player version?

No, this is the full team game — two sides, a key-holder on each, and everybody else arguing. The two-player co-operative variant is a different and quieter game; this is the one that fits six people on a Friday call.

Does the person giving clues have anything to do while their side guesses?

Nothing at all, deliberately. They may not speak, gesture or react while their side works. It is the hardest thirty seconds in any game on this shelf and it is where all the comedy comes from.

Does anybody have to install anything to play Our Words?

No. It runs in the browser everyone already has open. One person opens a room, reads out the six-character code or pastes the link into the channel, and everyone else is at the table in a couple of seconds.

Do we need accounts?

No. There is no sign-up, no password and no email address anywhere in the flow. You pick a name when you sit down, and that is the whole of it.

How many people can play Our Words?

4 to 12 — best with six. A room seats up to 12.

How long does a game of Our Words take?

About 20 minutes, which is the length of a coffee break rather than the length of a games night. Nobody is the host in the sense of holding the controls, so a round finishes whether or not everyone is still looking at it.

Does it work over a video call?

That is what it is for. The game is on the screen and the talking is on the call — nobody has to describe a board to anybody, and the parts that must stay private stay on the server rather than being read out.