In One Word
One word, many cards. Dodge the black one.
- Players
- 2–10
- Play on
- Single or multi-device
- Rounds
- Until the game ends
- First package
- Free
How to play
See your role when the game starts: captain or guesser. The starting team has 9 cards, the other team 8.
As captain, study the map, type one word that points to several of your team's cards, pick how many and tap Give the Clue.
As a guesser, tap cards to mark them and press Open when you're sure. Keep going while you find your own cards; you get the number + 1 guesses.
When the game ends, the map is revealed card by card, showing which team won and how the game was decided.
On the results screen, look over the full map, the clue log and the best clue.
There are 25 words on the board, and only the captains see the secret map that shows which word belongs to which team. A captain gives a one-word clue and a number that point to several of their team's cards, and teammates open cards one at a time. Open your own card and you keep going; a neutral or rival card ends the turn.
The first team to open all its cards wins, and the team that opens the black card loses on the spot. In Together, everyone is on the same side, working to find 15 green cards.
How to win
In Versus, the first team to open all its cards wins, and the team that opens the black card loses on the spot. In Together, you all win by finding all 15 green cards, and you all lose if a black card is opened or a wrong card is opened in the Final Round.
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
In One Word rules
Every rule of the game, from scoring to how a game is won.
Overview
- The board has 25 words in a 5×5 grid. A package is one board, and its words are written separately for each language; the map that shows whose card is whose is random every game.
- There are two game types: in Versus, two teams compete (4–10 players); in Together, everyone is on the same side (2–6 players, only when everyone plays on their own phone).
- When everyone plays on their own phone, 2–3 players can only play Together and 7–10 players can only play Versus; with 4–6 players the host chooses, and the default is Versus. On one phone, only Versus is available.
- A clue must be a single word: no spaces, up to 20 letters, and not just digits.
- A word on the board that is not yet open can't be a clue. If that word has 4 or more letters, the word with up to 3 letters added to its end (for example its plural) can't be a clue either. Words on cards that are already open are fine.
- Along with the clue, you pick a number: 1–9, 0 or ∞.
Versus: setup
- Players split into two teams, Red and Blue. Each team has at least 2 players and 1 captain.
- The starting team is chosen at random. The map gives the starting team 9 cards and the other team 8, plus 7 neutral cards and 1 black card.
- Only the captains see the map; everyone else sees only the colors of opened cards. When the game ends, the map is shown to everyone.
- Captains are chosen at random by default. When everyone plays on their own phone, a player can tap Be Captain to take the role, and the host can tap a player's star to make them captain. Shuffle splits the teams and picks captains again.
Versus: how a turn works
- The playing team's captain types a one-word clue, picks how many cards it points to and taps Give the Clue.
- The team's guessers tap cards to mark them and press Open; cards open one at a time. Meanwhile the captain watches quietly and gives no extra hints.
- You get one more guess than the number: if the captain says 2, the team can open up to 3 cards. If the number is 0 or ∞, guesses are unlimited.
- Open one of your team's cards and you keep going as long as you have guesses left.
- A neutral card ends the turn. A rival card also ends the turn; if it was the rival's last card, the rival team wins.
- The team that opens the black card loses on the spot.
- After at least one card is open, you can tap End Turn to stop. Then the other team plays.
Together
- Together is played by 2–6 players, only when everyone plays on their own phone. Players split into two sides, Red and Blue; each side has at least 1 player, and the sides can differ by at most 1 player. There are no captains.
- Each side has its own map: 9 green cards, 3 black cards and the rest neutral. Each player sees only their own side's map. Across the two maps there are 15 different green cards; 3 of them are green on both maps.
- The sides take turns giving clues, and the side that gives the first clue is chosen at random. Within a side, the clue giver changes every time.
- The clue giver points to green cards on their own map, and the other side opens the cards. The number only says how many cards are meant; guesses are unlimited.
- Each opened card is checked against the clue giver's map. Green: the card is found for everyone and you keep going. Neutral: the turn ends and the card stays closed, since it may be green on the other map. Black: everyone loses.
- After at least one card is open, you can tap End Turn to stop. If all 9 green cards of the other side are already found, the same side gives the next clue again.
- There is a turn limit: 9 turns (Normal) or 11 turns (Easy). Turns skipped because time ran out and turns ended with End Turn also count.
Final Round
- If the turns run out before all 15 green cards are found, the Final Round begins.
- The Final Round has no clues and no timer. Anyone can open a card, and the app asks you to confirm each one.
- Each card is checked against the map of the opener's other side. Green: the card is found. Neutral or black: everyone loses.
- If you find all the remaining green cards, you all win.
Winning and losing
- There are no points, only winning or losing.
- In Versus, a team wins when all its cards are open, even if the rival team opened the last one. The team that opens the black card loses. There are no draws and no turn limit.
- In Together, everyone wins when all 15 green cards are found. Everyone loses if a black card is opened or a wrong card is opened in the Final Round.
- When everyone plays on their own phone: 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 a Versus team drops below 2 players or a Together side has no players left, the game ends with no result. Only players who leave count here, not players who disconnect.
Playing on one phone
- On one phone you play Versus: 4–10 players, at least 2 per team. In the lobby, tap a name to switch that player's team and tap the star to pick the captain.
- The playing team's captain takes the phone and taps Show the Map; the guessers don't look at the screen. The captain types the clue, picks the number and taps Give the Clue.
- Then the phone goes in the middle of the table and someone taps Start Guessing. The team taps a card to select it and taps Open. Results and guesses work the same as in Versus on everyone's phone.
- The clue timer is off by default; you can choose 1 or 2 minutes. When it runs out, you only get a warning; the turn is not skipped.
- With New Game (Same Team), the captaincy moves to the next player on each team.
Settings and special cases (everyone's phone)
- Clue timer: none, 1 minute or 2 minutes; the default is 2 minutes. In Versus, if time runs out, the turn is skipped and the other team plays. In Together, if time runs out, the turn is skipped and counts toward the turn limit.
- Turns (Together): 9 turns (Normal, default) or 11 turns (Easy).
- If the captain disconnects during their clue, the game waits 60 seconds. If they don't return, a connected teammate becomes captain; if no teammate is connected, the turn is skipped. The clue timer keeps running during the wait. If the captain leaves the game, a new captain is picked right away.
- A former captain who has seen the map can't guess while another teammate is able to guess.
- In Versus, if every player who can guess stays disconnected for 60 seconds, the turn ends on its own.
- In Together, if the player due to give the clue is disconnected, a connected player on that side takes over. If nobody on that side is connected, the game waits 60 seconds, then skips the turn, which counts toward the turn limit.
- Words are shown in the room's language, which is the host's language. If a 7th player joins a Together lobby, the game switches to Versus.
- Timers and card counts may change in future updates.
In One Word titles
You earn these titles in In One Word 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.
AlexLegend in One WordLVL 27Legend in One Word Win 35 matches in a row with your team in Versus.
On top of these, there are 21 general titles you can earn in every game. Levels and titles
This game has 35 titles. Tap one to see it on your card.
Questions about In One Word
How many players do you need for In One Word?
Versus is for 4 to 10 players, with at least 2 per team. Together is for 2 to 6 players.
Can you play on one phone?
Versus can be played on one phone: it passes from captain to captain and goes in the middle of the table for guessing. Together needs everyone to join the same room on their own phone.
How long does a game take?
It depends on how quickly clues are given. A game usually takes 15 to 30 minutes.
What do 0 and ∞ mean in a clue?
In Versus, a captain who picks 0 or ∞ gives the team unlimited guesses; the turn ends when a wrong card is opened or the team taps End Turn. With any other number, the team gets one more guess than the number.
