Word Hunt is Guess Ladder's answer to charades and Pictionary in one. One player gets a word and decides for themselves how to convey it: with words, with a drawing, or with no screen at all. The catch: they only score if somebody actually works it out. Writer and guessers are in the same boat here.
After 15 seconds of thinking time, the writer commits:
| Mode | How it works |
|---|---|
| Describe | The writer types clues that everyone sees live. The word itself and related word fragments are blocked — the game stops the message before it is ever sent. |
| Draw | The writer draws on a shared canvas. Every stroke appears on everyone else's screen instantly. Undo and clear are allowed; letters are not. |
| Act it out | No digital channel at all — the writer stands up and performs the word for real. It only works if everyone is in the same room, but it is the loudest mode in the whole game. |
If the writer does not choose within those 15 seconds, the round is skipped. Nobody moves then — neither forwards nor backwards.
Every word comes with a list of forbidden terms. For the word "fridge", for instance, "cold" and "food" may be blocked too. If the writer tries to type one, the description is never sent and they get a note telling them which term caused the problem. That forces detours — and the detours are half the fun.
Everyone except the writer types guesses, as many as they like. The game is generous when comparing: capitalisation does not matter, singular and plural are treated the same, and for words of four letters or more a single typo is forgiven. You do not have to spell perfectly to score.
The round ends the moment the first person is right — or after two minutes if nobody gets there.
| Time to the correct guess | Squares |
|---|---|
| under 20 seconds | +3 |
| under 60 seconds | +2 |
| up to 2 minutes | +1 |
| nobody guesses it | everyone −1, the writer included |
The squares go to both — to the person who guessed and to the writer, in equal measure. That is what makes this mode unusual: the writer does not want to make it hard, they want to be understood quickly. Hide your word too cleverly and you punish yourself.
The board is 20 squares long. Reaching the end wins the match immediately.
"A piece of furniture" points the group in the right direction faster than a clever detail. The fine print can come later — the first 20 seconds are the most valuable.
A rough, large shape is recognisable on a phone screen. A detailed sketch is not. Draw the silhouette, not the object.
If somebody is elsewhere, they will stare at nothing for two minutes. In mixed groups, stick to describing or drawing.