Hint Taken rules

Players and circles

3 to 8 people play. The guesser role passes in turn every round. A game lasts a set number of circles — one to three, two by default. So there are as many rounds as players times circles: everyone is the guesser.

Hints

The server shows the secret word to everyone except the guesser. Each player writes a hint — exactly one word, up to 40 characters — within 90 seconds.

With only three players everyone writes two hints, so the guesser has enough to work with.

The check: what gets crossed out

Before the guesser sees the hints, the other players check them — they have 75 seconds. The guesser does not see this stage.

Identical hints are crossed out, and so are unfair ones: words with the same root as the secret word, translations, sound-alikes and made-up words. Authors can remove their own hint; someone else’s hint is crossed out if at least half of the other writers vote against it.

If every hint is crossed out, the round ends without a guess.

The guess

The guesser has one attempt and 45 seconds. Letter case does not matter. If there is no idea, the guesser can pass and the round ends without points.

Points

If the word is guessed, the author of every remaining hint gets +1 and the guesser +2. After a correct guess the guesser marks the best hint with a heart — there are 30 seconds for that — and its author gets another +3.

If the word is not guessed, nobody scores in that round.

A sample round

The secret word is umbrella, and the guesser cannot see it. Five players write hints: rain, rain, cane, Poppins and folding. In the check both rains are crossed out as identical, and the guesser sees only three hints. From Poppins and folding the answer is easy: umbrella.

The word is guessed: the authors of the three remaining hints get a point each, the guesser two. The guesser marks Poppins with a heart, and its author gets three more. Those who wrote rain get nothing — the obvious hint collided.

How to write hints

• Avoid the first obvious association: someone else will almost certainly write it.
• Think about the guesser: their hobbies, job and your group’s shared stories suggest precise words.
• One word is a limit, not a sentence: a character’s name, a place or a brand also counts as one word.
• Do not write same-root words, translations or sound-alikes — the table will cross them out in the check.

Victory

When all circles are played, the player with the most points wins. On a tie there are several winners, and if nobody scored at all it is a draw.

How to play on Omerta

Sign in, press Create, choose Games and Hint Taken, then Create and sit down. Invite friends from the table menu — with an invitation on the site, in Telegram or with the table link. Microphone and camera work at the table: the reaction to a bad hint is half the fun.

Before the start the host picks the word language — English or Russian — and the difficulty. Themed word sets and the 18+ set are available in Russian only.

• Hint Taken — the game page
• Hidden Code rules — one-word clues, but in teams
• Guess the Word rules — explaining words against the clock