Word Clues
Party games · Word games
Also One word clues, Back and forth, Clue tennis
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Summary — 4–12 players
Word Clues is a party word game for two teams. Both tellers see the same secret word; the first says one word about it and their team guesses. Miss, and the other teller adds one word and their team guesses, back and forth until somebody gets it. The side that gets it keeps the word. Ten words a match.
- Scored by
- A match is ten words. Each word is a point to the side that guesses it, and the side with more words wins the match.
- Origin
- Unknown
Rules
How to play
Players and equipment
Four to twelve, each with a phone, in two teams of two or more. Each team has a teller; the rest guess. The words come from the app's library, because both tellers see every one.
The deal
The app deals a word to the two tellers' phones and to nobody else's. The tellers change with each match, round the team's seats, and which team opens a word alternates word by word.
Play
The teller of the side to play says one word out loud about the secret word — one word, no part of the secret word in it, nothing about its letters — and their team has one guess, out loud. Right, and the teller taps Guessed: the word is theirs. Wrong, and the teller taps Pass: the other teller says one word of their own, building on everything said so far, and their team guesses. The word goes back and forth, a clue at a time, until a team gets it.
A guess out of turn
Only the side to play guesses. A team that blurts the answer on the other side's go has given it away, and the table decides what that costs; the app only knows who was playing when the word fell.
Scoring
Scoring
- A word guessed
- 1
- A point to everyone on the side that got it
A match is ten words. The side with more words wins it, and the leaderboard counts matches won — a win for every member of the side. The ladder rates it, and teammates are never rated against each other.
A worked word
The word is "lantern". Dog's teller says "light"; Dog guess "torch" — miss, Pass. Fox's teller says "paper"; Fox guess "lampshade" — miss, Pass. Dog's teller says "festival"; Dog guess "lantern". Guessed: a point to every Dog, and the next word opens with Fox.
Ending
The match ends when the tenth word is guessed. The next match deals ten new words, the tellers move one seat along, and the other side opens.
Strategy
Telling
The first clue is the broad one; the later ones narrow it. Listen to the other teller's clue before you give yours — it tells you what your opponents are thinking, and a clue that rules their guess out is worth two that do not.
Guessing
The clues add up across both sides: the word fits every one of them. Say the reasoning out loud; the teller cannot answer but the rest of the team can.
Passing
A teller who sees the team is stuck should Pass quickly rather than wait: every clue the other side gives is a clue your team hears too.
FAQs
How do you play Word Clues?
Two teams; both tellers see a secret word. The side to play's teller says one word and their team guesses once. Miss, and the other side's teller adds a word and their team guesses. Back and forth until a team gets it, which keeps the word. Ten words a match.
Can the teller say more than one word?
No — one word a go. The table decides whether a name or a hyphenated word counts as one.
What if both teams miss again and again?
The word keeps going back and forth, a clue at a time. With ten clues given it is usually obvious; a table may agree to skip a word nobody is getting, and the teller can End match from the Host tab if it comes to that.
Who sees the word?
The two tellers, on their phones. Everybody else sees whose go it is and the score.
How many players?
Four at the least, two a side, and it plays up to twelve. Uneven teams are fine.