Best Five
Bid smart, build the best five
- Players
- 2–10
- Play on
- Single or multi-device
- Rounds
- Until the game ends
- First package
- Free
How to play
Type a theme or pick one of the sample themes. The AI creates 5 items per player that fit it.
Items go up for auction one at a time. Tap Place Bid to raise the highest bid by 1 coin, or Withdraw to drop out for this item.
The highest bidder wins the item and pays their bid. If nobody bids, the item goes to a random player.
When the auction ends, the AI jury rates every lineup against the theme, comments on each one and announces the winner.
Pick a theme, like what you'd need to survive on a desert island. The AI creates items that fit it, and each one goes up for auction. Everyone starts with 20 coins; the highest bidder wins the item and adds it to their inventory. With Blind Auction on, you only see a hint instead of the name.
When the auction ends, an AI jury rates every lineup against the theme, comments on each one and picks the best five. Leftover coins don't count.
How to win
The player whose lineup the AI jury finds best for the theme wins; there is exactly one winner per game. Leftover coins don't affect the result.
Single device
Multi-device
Playing on one phone? Invite your friends: the game runs on your phone, and XP, titles and stats go on everyone's own profile. How to invite
Best Five rules
Every rule of the game, from scoring to how a game is won.
Overview and setup
- Best Five is for 2–10 players on one phone or on everyone's own phone. There are no teams or roles; everyone builds their own lineup.
- Every game starts with a theme. On everyone's phone the host sets it; on one phone, whoever holds the phone does. A theme must be 20–150 characters long.
- You can type your own theme or pick a sample theme from the package. Each package has 50 sample themes.
- The AI creates 5 items per player for the theme, so a 4-player game auctions 20 items. The list mixes strong picks, debatable ones and surprising picks that still fit.
- Everyone starts with 20 coins. An inventory holds up to 5 items.
The auction
- Items are auctioned one at a time. The screen shows the item, the highest bid, who made it, and everyone's coins and inventory.
- Place Bid always offers 1 coin more than the current highest bid; the first bid is 1 coin. You can't bid any other amount.
- You can't bid if your inventory has 5 items or you can't afford it. On everyone's phone, you also can't bid if you already have the highest bid or you withdrew from this item.
- If someone outbids you, you can bid again.
- On everyone's phone, Withdraw takes you out of the bidding for this item, and you can't undo it. You can't withdraw while you have the highest bid.
- On everyone's phone, as soon as everyone who could still outbid has withdrawn, the item is sold without waiting for the timer.
When an item is sold
- The highest bidder wins the item and pays their bid. Bids always go up by 1 coin, so there are no ties.
- If nobody bids, the item goes at random to a player who still has room in their inventory. Players with 0 coins come first and get it for free; if there are none, a random player gets it for 1 coin.
- After each sale, the screen shows who won the item and for how many coins. The auction moves on when everyone taps Next Item; on the last item the button says Go to Results.
- A player with a full inventory is out of the bidding, and the remaining items go to the others.
Blind Auction
- With Blind Auction on, item names are hidden during bidding and only a hint written by the AI is shown. The hint describes the group the item belongs to, not the item itself.
- You bid on the hint. The real name is revealed as soon as the item is sold.
- The AI may occasionally write a wrong hint.
The AI jury and the winner
- The auction ends when the last item is sold or every inventory is full. Then the AI jury reviews every lineup.
- The jury first works out the theme's criterion, such as most useful or best fit for the theme. It scores each pick by that criterion: strong, fitting picks score high even if they're obvious, and weak or off-topic picks score low even if they're funny.
- Picks that clearly strengthen each other earn the lineup a small bonus. The bonus never makes up for weak picks.
- The lineup with the highest total wins. If totals are tied, the lineup whose picks work better together comes first. There is exactly one winner per game.
- Scores are not shown. Everyone sees the winner, the reason they won and a short jury comment on every lineup.
- The jury judges only the picks. It never scores or jokes about player names, and its comments poke fun at the picks, never at the players.
- Leftover coins add nothing to your score. Coins are only your auction budget.
One phone vs everyone's phone
- On everyone's phone, each item has a timer. A new highest bid extends the time left to at least 10 seconds. When time runs out, the item is sold to the current highest bidder.
- On one phone there is no timer. Each player's row has its own bid button, and whoever holds the phone taps End Auction to sell the item. If nobody has bid, a warning appears first.
- On one phone every item is sold, and everyone finishes with 5 items.
Special cases
- Because the game uses AI, the player who starts it must be signed in to an account. AI use has a daily limit; if it runs out, you can try again the next day.
- If a theme breaks the content rules or makes no sense, the AI uses a general theme instead.
- If the AI can't create enough items, change the theme and try again. On everyone's phone, a list that is only slightly short still starts the game, so some lineups may end with fewer than 5 items.
- If the jury fails because of an error, there is no winner. On one phone you can tap Try Again to ask for the verdict again.
- On everyone's phone, a player who leaves keeps their items but their lineup isn't judged. If the host leaves, the game goes on: hosting passes at once to the next signed-in player. If the host loses connection, everyone is warned after 1 minute, and hosting passes on if they aren't back within 2 minutes. If only one player is left, the game ends.
Host settings
- Bid timer: 30, 60 or 120 seconds, or unlimited; the default is 30 seconds. With no timer, an item is sold once everyone who could still outbid has withdrawn.
- Blind Auction: on or off; the default is off. On one phone, Blind Auction is the only setting.
- Timers and coin amounts may change in future updates.
Best Five titles
You earn these titles in Best Five matches: in multiplayer games and in one-phone games you play with friends as real players. The title you pick shows on your card, under your name.
AlexGolden GavelLVL 27Golden Gavel Finish in 1st place in 35 consecutive matches.
On top of these, there are 21 general titles you can earn in every game. Levels and titles
This game has 30 titles. Tap one to see it on your card.
Questions about Best Five
How many players can play Best Five?
2–10 players. The more players there are, the more items go up for auction.
Do we need one phone or everyone's phone?
Either works. On one phone, all bids are placed on the same screen with no timer. On everyone's phone, each player bids from their own phone and every item has a timer.
How long does a game take?
Each player adds 5 items to the auction, so it depends on the group size. Most games take 15–40 minutes.
Do funny picks win?
The jury scores picks by the theme's criterion. A funny pick that barely fits the theme scores low, though the jury may still poke fun at it in the comments.
