How to play
Almostry is a quick clue game for 4 to 8 players in two teams. One team sets two words, the other team gives a clue and guesses a secret cell on the board. Getting close still scores.
What you need
- 4 to 8 players, split into two teams of 2 to 4 (teams can be uneven, like 3 against 2).
- One phone or laptop that you pass around the table (Play on this device), or everyone on their own phone (Play online, join with a 4-letter room code).
The board
The board is a 5×5 grid. Each round it gets two words: one for the left-to-right axis and one for the bottom-to-top axis. The word sits in the middle of its axis. Moving towards LOW means less of that word, towards HI means more of it.
Example: with SPICY across and LOUD up, the top-right corner is "very spicy and very loud" and the bottom-left corner is "not spicy at all and very quiet".
A round
- Pick the words. Two players from the word-setting team each secretly get a card with two words and choose one. Nobody sees the words until both have chosen.
- Give a clue. The other team's clue-giver secretly sees the target cell and gives a clue of up to 5 words that points to it. Online, the clue can't use the axis words.
- Guess. The guesser from the same team taps the cell they think is the target.
- Reveal. Everyone sees the target and the points. The target cell gets an X and can't be the target or be guessed again.
Roles rotate every round, so everyone gets a turn at every job, and the teams swap jobs each round.
Scoring
- 3 points for guessing the target.
- 2 points for a cell right next to it (up, down, left or right).
- 1 point for a cell diagonally next to it.
- Only the guessing team scores.
Winning
The first team to reach 12 points wins straight away. If nobody gets there after 6 rounds each, the team with more points wins; the same score is a draw.
Game types
- Classic: two teams, first to 12 points, up to 6 rounds each.
- Quick: two teams, first to 6 points, up to 3 rounds each. About 10 minutes.
- Co-op: 2 to 4 players on one team, playing against the board. The app deals the two words, you take turns giving clues, and you try to reach 12 points within 6 rounds. You earn a star at 6 points, two at 9, and three for reaching 12.
- Speed mode (works with any game type): 60 seconds to give the clue once the clue-giver has seen the target, then 30 seconds to guess. If time runs out, the round scores 0.
Easy or hard words
Every card has an easy side with everyday words and a hard side with trickier ones. Pick the side when you set up the game.