What Forbidden Words is
Get your team to say the word — without using its five best clues. Slip up and the other team buzzes. Just two of you? Climb the 15-level challenge ladder.
The card is not a secret from everybody. Your own team never sees it, but the whole opposing side is reading the same word and the same five fences on their phones — and the moment you slip, the card dies and the point crosses the table.
Below four players there is nobody to buzz you, so Forbidden Words becomes a fifteen-level ladder you climb together. Each level is a contract: clear this many cards, in this much time, on this many skips. Fail one and it runs back with a new clue giver.
Three of the fifteen deal nothing but hard words, and the summit is one of them: six hard cards in eighty-five seconds. Most tables stall somewhere in the middle, which is rather the point of a ladder.
From our tables
1,200+ games finished
Games of Forbidden Words, played to the end on Table Party between 16 August and 24 September 2026.
4 minutes on average
How long a finished game of Forbidden Words really takes here, from the first move to the final score.
How to play Forbidden Words
- One player gives clues; their team shouts guesses. A point per word.
- The card lists five taboo words — say any of them and the other team buzzes.
- A buzzed card is dead, and the point goes to the buzzing team.
- Caught yourself slipping? Tap I said one — it costs the same, but you keep your honour.
- No “rhymes with”, no “sounds like”, no charades. Just talk around it.
- The whole opposing team sees your card, so the buzzer is always watching.
How to win at Forbidden Words
Talk in whole sentences
A sentence gives your team more to catch than a careful string of single adjectives ever will.
Read the fence first
Spend the opening second on the five banned words, because the clue you were about to give is usually among them.
Skip early, never late
A word you are still circling after ten seconds has already cost you more than the skip would.
Own the slip
Tapping I said one costs exactly what being buzzed costs, so confessing loses you nothing but the argument.
The buzzer pays
A buzz hands your side the point outright, so watching a giver drift towards a fenced word is worth as much as guessing.
Hand the retry over
A failed ladder level restarts with the next clue giver, so let it fall to whoever reads this room best.
Questions about Forbidden Words
What happens if I say a forbidden word by accident?
The other team buzzes, the card is dead, and the point goes to them. If nobody catches you, tapping I said one costs precisely the same — honesty is priced at the going rate.
Does the other team really see my card?
Every one of them, on their own phone, for the whole turn. Only the people guessing are kept in the dark, which is why the buzzer almost never misses.
Can you play Forbidden Words with two or three players?
Yes, and it turns into a different game. One team, no buzzer, and fifteen timed levels — fail one and you retry it, so the only way to lose is to stop climbing.
What are the card packs?
Eight themed packs of roughly 120 cards each, plus a Hard Mode pack of 380 the host can fold in. On the ladder, three levels deal from Hard Mode whether you asked for it or not.
Is Forbidden Words free?
Yes. Every game on Table Party is free, with no accounts, no adverts and nothing to buy.
How many people do you need for Forbidden Words?
Between 2 and 12. Below 2 there are not enough of you for the game to work.
Do we need to download anything?
No. One person opens the site and starts a room; everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Can we play Forbidden Words over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.
