Synonyms

Players and equipment

Four or more, in two or more teams — uneven teams are fine. Nothing but the phones: the words are dealt on the app and the clock runs on it.

Turns run on the turn timer. Forty-five seconds is the usual allowance; the host can change it from the Host tab.

The deal

The words come from a pack, or the table writes them. With a pack, nobody writes anything and the game starts when the host says.

With our own words, everyone writes five in secret and you write for the other team: a team is never dealt a word one of its own members wrote. If the teams are different sizes each team's words are cut to the smallest team's count when the game starts, so every team faces the same number; the host's screen says how many were set aside.

A word goes in once. If two players write the same word the later copy is dropped and the first stays.

Play

One player describes, their own team guesses, and the clock runs. Each word the team gets leaves the pile. A word you cannot get is skipped and goes to the bottom of the pile, so every other word comes round before it does. When the bell goes, the word on screen goes back and the next team takes over.

Say it another way

Describe the word without saying it, any part of it, or a word it is part of. No rhymes, no spelling it out, no "sounds like". Everything else goes: what it is for, where you find it, what it is not.

The turn passes from team to team in order, and within a team to whoever has described least, so everybody gets the same number of goes. With our own words each team has its own pile — the words the others wrote — and a team whose pile runs out sits out until the round ends.

Scoring

A word guessed

1

One point for the describing team

A word skipped

0

Back in the pile, no penalty

The word said aloud

0

The table's call: most skip it for nothing

The Play tab keeps the tally as it happens: a column per team and the match total.

A worked match

Six players in two threes: Dog and Fox, with the pack dealing thirty words.

Ann, Dog

6

Six guessed

Bo, Fox

5

Five guessed, one skipped

Cy, Dog

7

Seven guessed

Di, Fox

6

Six guessed; the word at the bell goes back

Ed, Dog

4

Four guessed

Flo, Fox

2

The last two, and the pile is empty

Match

30

Dog 17, Fox 13

Dog wins by four words. The next match deals thirty fresh words.

Ending

The match ends when every word has been guessed. Most words wins; a tie is shared. End match files the result, and the next match deals again.

Describing

Lead with the category and the size: an animal, a big one, lives in Africa. Then the one detail that pins it down. Listen to the guesses — a wrong guess tells you which neighbourhood your team is in, and the shortest clue is the one that walks them from there.

What not to say

The word, and any word that contains it or is contained by it. "Sunlight" for "sun" is out; so is "suntan". A slip costs the word, so when you feel one coming, say "skip" and take the next.

Writing for the other team

Pick words with more than one way in. A word everybody describes the same way is a one-second clue; a word with three neighbourhoods — bank, spring, match — makes the describer choose, and the choosing takes time.

The library or your own words

The app's library is the default — the host ticks which kinds of word on the Host tab — and the game starts at once. Our own words takes a minute of writing and is the better game between friends.

Forbidden words

Some tables add a short list of words the describer may not use beside each word. The app does not deal one; a table that wants them agrees the list out loud before the word is described.

Longer turns

Forty-five seconds is the default. A minute suits a big pile; thirty seconds makes every word a scramble.

How do you play Synonyms?

One player describes a word to their team without saying the word or any part of it, and the team guesses before the clock runs out. A point a word; the turn passes to the other team at the bell.

Can you say part of the word?

No. The word, any part of it, and any word it is part of are all out. Rhymes and spelling are out too. Describe what the thing is, does or is for.

What happens if you say the word by accident?

The table's call. Most tables skip the word for nothing and carry on; a stricter table takes a point off.

How long is a turn?

Forty-five seconds by default; the host can change it on the Host tab. The same allowance applies to every turn.

Can you play with three teams?

Yes. The turn goes round the teams in order, and with our own words each team's pile is the words the other two wrote.