One Word Unites

Players and equipment

Three to twelve, each with a phone. The app deals a word and its near miss — "beach" and "pool" — and nobody at the table has seen either.

The deal

When the game starts, every phone shows the secret word except one, which shows the near miss. Nothing on that card says it is the odd one out: everybody believes they hold the real word. Keep your phone to yourself.

Play

Going round the table from a starting seat that moves each game, every player says one word out loud about the word on their phone — close enough to show they know it, vague enough not to hand it over. The clues that fit a slightly different picture are the ones to notice: "sand" and "waves" sit oddly beside "chlorine".

Then everyone votes, in secret, for who they think has the odd word. You may not vote for yourself. The vote comes out when the last vote is in, or when the host reveals it.

Caught

If the player with the near miss has the most votes they are out, and get one guess at the table's word. Right, and they win the game anyway; wrong, and the table wins.

Missed

If anybody else has the most votes, the player with the near miss wins on the spot.

A tie

A tie for most votes is one revote between the players who tied. A tie again and the near miss wins, because the table could not find it.

Scoring

The table wins

1

A point to everyone but the odd one out

The odd one out wins

1

A point to them alone

A game is one match. The leaderboard counts matches won: a win for the table is a win for every member of it.

A worked game

Six players; the word is "beach" and the near miss "pool". Round the table: sand, sun, towel, chlorine, holiday, waves. "Chlorine" sits oddly, and four votes land on it. Out, the player sees the table's word was something else and guesses "sea". Wrong — the table wins, and five players take a point.

Ending

The match ends the moment the vote is decided, or the caught player has guessed. The next game deals a new word, a new near miss and a new odd one out at once; the result line says what both words were.

Giving a clue

You do not know whether your word is the real one, so say something true of your word that would also be true of a neighbour of it. "Wet" covers both beach and pool; "sand" does not. The later you speak, the more you can tell from the clues before you — if yours fits them, say something that fits too.

Finding the odd one out

Listen for the clue that is true of something close but not of the rest: everybody's clues point at the same thing but one. Say what you think the word is before the vote and watch who flinches.

Voting

A revote is a second chance to talk. Say who you voted for and why before the second vote; two tied players each defending their clue is the whole game in a minute.

How is One Word Unites different from Impostor?

In Impostor the odd one out has no word and knows it. Here they are dealt a near miss and are not told, so they give clues believing they hold the real word, and the table has to spot whose clues fit a different picture.

Does the odd one out know?

No. Their card looks like everybody else's. They find out when the vote comes out, or when a wrong guess ends the game.

Can the odd one out win?

Yes, three ways: by not being voted out, by guessing the real word once caught, and by a vote that ties twice.

How many players do you need?

Three at the least; five to eight is the sweet spot. The library has enough paired words for an evening with no repeats.

Can you vote for yourself?

No. The app refuses it, and a revote is only between the players who tied.