How to play Wordhack online
Wordhack is a browser word-association game for two teams of four players or more. Twenty-five word cards sit on the table. The two captains can see which belong to their team, which to the other, and which single one is deadly. A captain gives a one-word clue and a number; their team guesses cards. Touch the deadly word and the game ends instantly. It runs in the browser with no download and no sign-up.
- 1
Create a room and split up
Hit “Create room”, get a code and form two teams. Each picks a captain — the only person who can see the layout.
- 2
Invite friends with a link
Paste the link into a chat. Four players minimum, two per team, but six to ten is where it sings — you want somebody to argue with.
- 3
The captain gives a clue
One word and a number: “Ocean, 3” means three of your cards connect to the ocean. Words sharing a root with a card, and words on the board, are off limits.
- 4
The team turns cards over
Guess one of yours and the turn continues. Hit the other team’s card or a neutral and the turn passes. Hit the deadly word and you have lost, immediately.
Rules, roles and card types
The whole game is one question: how much meaning fits into a single word without the other team getting there first.
- Captain
- Sees every card’s colour and gives the clues. Silent the rest of the time — no gestures, no meaningful pauses.
- The team
- Sees only the words and argues out loud. May turn over one more card than the number given — a chance to collect on an earlier, under-guessed clue.
- Your cards
- The ones you are trying to reach. The starting team has one extra, which is why it goes first.
- The other team’s cards
- Turn one over and you have handed them a card and the turn. The usual price of an over-broad clue.
- Neutrals
- They simply end your turn. Sometimes that is the best available outcome.
- The deadly word
- One on the board. Turn it over and the game is finished right there, not in your favour. Half the captain’s job is steering around it.
- The “zero” clue
- A number of 0 means “none of my cards relate to this word” — a way to talk your team off a dangerous idea.
- Custom word sets
- Beyond the built-in dictionaries you can build a pack of your own — office jargon, in-jokes, anything your group will actually connect.
Wordhack — frequently asked questions
How many players do you need?
Four: two captains and one guesser each. Six to ten is most comfortable, because then there is a real conversation inside each team.
Do I need to download anything or sign up?
No. It runs in the browser on desktop and mobile, and a guest can create a room with no account.
Is it free?
Yes. Tokens for play time are granted daily and a short ad tops them up. A subscription removes ads and raises the player limit.
Can a clue be more than one word?
No — always one word and a number. Proper nouns are allowed; words sharing a root with a card, and words visible on the board, are not.
What happens if the team picks the other side’s card?
The turn passes immediately and the card stays turned, in their favour. That is why a broad four-card clue is a gamble rather than simply strong play.
Can we play sitting together?
Yes: the board is shared on any screen, and the captains only need to open their own phone to see the layout. Arguing out loud is half the fun.
How is Wordhack different from the Codenames board game?
It is a standalone online game with its own name, its own dictionaries, its own pack editor and its own room rules. Anyone who has played tabletop two-team association games will recognise the mechanics.
About Wordhack
Wordhack is a word-association game for two teams: one word, one number, twenty-five cards, and one of them ends the game on contact. If you like tabletop games in the vein of Codenames the mechanics will feel immediately familiar — while the dictionaries, the pack editor and a room that fills from a link in a minute are its own. The reference to the tabletop game is descriptive and comparative only.