PICK YOUR ROOM
Six ways to play.
Use these profiles as a starting point. The best timer and penalty are the ones that keep your particular group involved.
Loud & competitive
Friends and parties
2–4 teams · 45–60 secUse mixed categories, keep the skip penalty on and rotate explainers every round. Short turns keep a large room listening.
Warm & inclusive
Family game night
Mixed-age teams · 60–90 secPair younger and older players, choose familiar words and turn the skip penalty off for the first game.
Active learning
Classroom
Small teams · 30–60 secChoose an age-appropriate category, agree on acceptable clues and let every student explain once before tracking the winner.
Low-pressure start
Team warm-up
2–4 teams · 45 secBegin without a skip penalty and use the first rotation as practice. It gets the room talking before scores matter.
Small but fast
Two-player duel
2 players · alternating turnsTake turns explaining and guessing. Use the same timer and category for both sides, then compare scores after an equal number of rounds.
Big-room control
Large groups
3+ teams · 45 secKeep teams compact, seat teammates together and decide the speaking order in advance. The phone should move the same direction every round.
READ THE ROOM
Host a game people want to replay.
Good hosting is less about enforcing every second and more about protecting pace, fairness and participation.
- 01
Match the category to the room
A shared reference point creates better clues than a deck only half the group understands.
- 02
Agree on edge cases first
Decide how strict you will be about word roots, names and accidental slips before the timer starts.
- 03
Give every player a turn
Use the names in the app and rotate the explainer. Confident players should not take every round.
- 04
Keep disputes short
Make one quick group decision, adjust the score if needed and move on while the energy is high.
- 05
Finish on a real final
Set a reachable target score. A clear last round feels better than a game that fades out.
NEVER RUN OUT OF CLUES
Four reliable explanation patterns.
Move from a broad idea toward a specific image. Each example shows the route without saying the answer.
Category → detail
“It is a place… you go there to catch a flight.”
Purpose → object
“You use it when it rains… you hold it above your head.”
Situation → action
“You do this before a trip… clothes go into a suitcase.”
Contrast → answer
“It is not daytime… it starts after the sun goes down.”
ABOUT ALIAS
A small screen that brings the whole room in.
Alias is a pass-the-phone team word game for iPhone and Android. The app handles teams, player rotation, the timer, guessed and skipped words, the scoreboard and the winning moment—so the group can stay focused on each other.
The game is deliberately flexible. A family can slow the clock down, a party can make skips costly, and a class can use short rounds to give more people a turn. The rules stay simple; the room creates the personality.
Read the complete rulesBUILD YOUR ROUND
Choose a vibe. Start the clock.
Alias is ready for the next kitchen table, classroom or very loud sofa.
