Setting up

Add every player's name in the order you are sitting, the same order the phone will travel around the table. Then choose whether to use a timer, how many seconds each turn lasts, and which card collection to play with.

A turn, step by step

Each turn has an explainer — always whoever is holding the phone — and a target, the one person the explainer is really trying to reach. The target is picked for you and highlighted on screen.

1. Peek at the word. Press and hold the reveal area. Let go and it disappears straight away. Take your time before the first peek: if the timer is on, it only starts the moment you first reveal the word.

2. Explain it. Describe the word out loud so your target gets it — without making it too easy for everyone else.

3. Everyone can guess. There is no taking turns and no limit on guesses.

4. Record who got it. The explainer taps that person's name and confirms it.

5. Pass the phone to the person sitting next to you. The new word stays hidden until the next explainer reveals it.

Scoring

Your target guesses: explainer +1, target +1.

Somebody else guesses first: that player +2, explainer −1, target −1.

The timer runs out: explainer −1, target −1.

Explain clearly enough for your target, but not so clearly that the whole table gets it first. Scores can go below zero — that is completely normal.

Whose turn is it?

The phone goes around the table in the order you entered the names, so you always know when your turn is coming. Your target, though, is a surprise: each time you explain, Kards picks one of the players you have not explained to yet. By the end, everybody has explained to everybody else exactly once — that is players × (players − 1) turns.

Winning

The game ends once every pair has had their turn. You will see the final scores and the winner — and if several players finish on the same top score, they all win together. Play again and Kards will remember every word you have already played, so you never see the same word twice.