17 games

Word games to play online

Three different games hide under one label here — hunting words in a dictionary, aiming a single word at somebody, and writing the funniest thing anybody typed.

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FAKE ANSWERSPLUMWho here would lastlongest in a zombie film?Dave — he owns the vanSam, purely by hidingMe. Obviously me.Vote

Boggle, Scrabble, Paperback and Wyps all read the same dictionary, so a word either exists or it does not and there is nothing left to argue about. In Scrabble a word that is not in the list simply will not go down on the board.

Just One, So Clover! and Decrypto turn one word into a delivery problem instead. Just One throws away any two clues that match before the guesser sees them, so the obvious clue is the wasted one — and with three players that can leave nothing at all.

Then Psych, Quiplash and Herd Mentality, where nobody is checking your spelling. Herd Mentality is the strangest of the lot: you score by writing what the rest of the table will write, and being clever is how you end up holding the Pink Cow.

Twelve, from dictionary races to one-word clues

Fake Answers3–12 players · 5–10 min Boggle2–12 players · 5–10 min Quip Battle3–12 players · 10–15 min Wyps2 players · 10–15 min Decrypt4–12 players · 15–25 min Herd Think3–12 players · 10–15 min Imposter3–12 players · 5–10 min Paper Novel2–5 players · 15–25 min Forbidden Words2–12 players · 10–15 min Only One3–7 players · 10–15 min Clover2–6 players · 15–20 min Word Tiles2–4 players · 20–35 min

Questions about Word games to play online

Do you check words against a real dictionary?

Yes, and the same one across Boggle, Scrabble, Paperback and Wyps. Scrabble refuses an invalid play outright instead of letting the table argue, so nobody has to be the referee.

Which word games work with just two of us?

Wyps is built for exactly two, Scrabble seats two to four, and Boggle plays head to head. So Clover! deals you a clover each at two, and every clue you write is aimed at one particular person.

Which is the one where you cannot say the word?

Taboo. Five related words sit fenced off under each card and the other team is reading the same card with a finger on the buzzer. Below four players it becomes a fifteen-level challenge ladder instead.

Which scales best to a big group?

Boggle. Psych, Herd Mentality and Chameleon all seat twelve too, but Boggle gives all twelve the same grid at once — and a word two of you found is crossed out for both.

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