Designed by: Joli Quentin Kansil
What’s My Word? (also found as My Word!) is a two-player word deduction game that borrows its mechanics from Mastermind and has an element of Hangman about it too.
Each player selects a six-letter word and secretly writes it down on their pad. Then players take turn guessing, but the pad dictates what you can guess: first a two-letter word, then three, then four… and each guess you make rewards you with points: 250 for a correct letter, or 1000 for a correct letter in the correct place. You don’t, however, get to learn which letters you’ve guessed correctly – so as the game continues and your guesses run out, you’ve got a limited amount of wriggle-room to figure out what the word is. You get a 3000 point bonus for getting the word right.
Players play two rounds and the winner is the one with the highest points total.
Very clever word game - it's surprisingly thinky and you can really tie yourself in knots as you approach the final guess; which is the only time you'll get to guess the full 6 letters! As Sam says, the ability to score points elevates this above a simple guessing game, adding some gamey strategising on top.
None
Anything from zero to high, depending on who you play with. Most likely none at the start, with lulls towards the end...
...because although the rules are exceedingly simple, working out the word can be tricky!
As a game it's very one-hit, but it's also - we feel - a rather delightful and moreish one.
2-2
Players
12+
Years
30-60
Mins
Sam says
Some games take up the whole table and you can completely immerse yourself in a complex battle of tactics and strategy. And some, like What's My Word, consist of a notepad. The game is what you make it - if you enjoy Scrabble, Mastermind, crossword puzzles or playing with words, then this is really a wonderful brain-burner that is absolutely not just about guessing. There's even a seam of scoring strategy running through it - you might have sussed out 4 or 5 letters - do you simply repeat them in different formations to pick up points, or risk getting none at all by guessing a word with all new letters, in the hope you'll figure out what's missing?