The free forbidden words party game Don’t Say It

How to play Don't Say It

You need at least four people split into two to four teams. One player gives clues, their teammates guess, and someone from another team watches the screen for slip-ups.

1. 1Pick a deck or Mixed, set the number of teams (2 to 4) and choose 60, 90 or 120-second rounds.
2. 2The first clue-giver holds the phone so their own team can't see it. A player from another team stands where they can watch the screen.
3. 3Start the round. Describe the target word without saying it or any of the five forbidden words.
4. 4Tap Got it (+1) the moment your team says the exact word.
5. 5Tap Skip (0) to move past a card you can't crack.
6. 6Slip up and say a forbidden word or the target? The watcher calls it, and you tap Buzz (−1).
7. 7When time runs out, the phone goes to the next team's clue-giver. The scoreboard keeps the totals.

A sample card: the word is “pancake,” and you can't say breakfast, syrup, flat, flip or batter. Try “Round and golden, you stack them on a plate on Sunday morning.” If someone yells “waffle,” you're close. “Not the one with squares.” Got it, next card.

Decks

Every card has one target word and five forbidden words. Pick a deck, or play Mixed to shuffle them all together. The decks are family-friendly, and no card comes up twice in the same game.

Scoring and the buzz rule

The math is simple. Got it adds a point, Skip costs nothing, Buzz takes a point away. Since skipping is free, a smart clue-giver skips fast instead of fumbling for twenty seconds.

What counts as a buzz? Saying the target word or any forbidden word, obviously. Most groups also count parts of words, so “sun” is a buzz if the target is “sunflower.” Classic rules ban gestures, rhymes and “sounds like” clues too. Decide as a group before the first round so nobody argues mid-game.

The watcher's job is simple: keep your eyes on the screen and call it the instant a forbidden word slips out. Switch watchers every round, so everyone gets a turn as referee and the clue-giver can't argue with the same person all night.

Teams take turns, and the scoreboard keeps running totals from round to round. Play a set number of rounds, or stop when the snacks run out.

Tips for clue-givers

• Read all five forbidden words before you say anything. One second of planning saves a buzz.
• Go around the obvious. If the word is “beach” and “sand” and “ocean” are banned, try “where you get sunburned on vacation.”
• Fill-in-the-blank clues are fast: “Peanut butter and ___.”
• Opposites work too. “Not cold, the other one” gets you “hot” in a second.
• Watch out for plurals and word parts. If “snow” is forbidden, “snowy” will probably get you buzzed.
• When your team is circling the answer, say “close” or “shorter” to steer them in.
• Guessers, shout lots of guesses. Close answers help the clue-giver steer.

Ways to play

Where it works best

Game night with friends is the sweet spot. It rewards quick thinking and a big vocabulary, and the buzz rule gives the other team a reason to pay attention even when it isn't their turn.

It's also a strong classroom game. Describing a word without its obvious synonyms is great practice for English learners and for any kid working on vocabulary. Split the class into up to four teams and let the watchers referee. It works at office parties and team events too, since it takes a minute to explain and the decks are safe for any crowd.

At holiday gatherings, mix generations on each team. Grandparents tend to crush Places, and teenagers own Movies & TV. If some of the group would rather act than talk, ManyMini has other games that run on the same phone.

The classic it's based on

Describing a word while certain other words are off-limits is a well-loved party game format, best known from the board game Taboo. Don't Say It is a separate game and has no connection to that game's owner.

Ours is an independent free game with its own cards, built to run on one phone in a browser. No box, no cards to shuffle, no sand timer, and nobody hunting for the buzzer under the couch.

Questions