Test words, spot the pattern, crack the secret rule. Play Secret Rule free, a word logic party game for 3 to 8 players. Test words to crack the Keeper's hidden rule, online with friends or on one phone.
How to play
Each round one player is the Rule Keeper. The Keeper secretly picks one of three rules, such as “Has exactly 5 letters”, “Contains a double letter” or “Starts and ends with the same letter”. Everyone else tries to work out what it is.
The other players take turns. On your turn, type any word to test it. The game checks the word against the rule straight away and shows everyone whether it fits or doesn’t fit. Every tested word stays on screen in two columns, so the pattern slowly appears: MANGO fits, KIWI doesn’t, APPLE fits…
When you think you have it, tap I know it! instead of testing a word. You get a list of six rules: the real one and five others that look close. Pick the right one and you win the round. Pick a wrong one and you sit out the rest of the round, so be sure!
A round ends when someone names the rule, after 12 test words, or when nobody is left to guess. Everyone keeps the rule once, or you can choose 3, 5 or 8 rounds before you start.
Online with friends
Create a room, share the link, and each friend plays on their own phone. Only the Keeper sees the rule. Type your test words on the on-screen keyboard, or a real one on a computer. You have 25 seconds to choose a rule, 40 seconds for each turn and 30 seconds to pick from the list.
On one phone
A cover screen passes the phone to the Keeper, who picks a rule in private. Then put the phone in the middle and take turns typing words on it. The game does all the judging, so nobody can cheat.
Scoring
- Naming the rule: 3 points.
- The Keeper: 1 point for every word tested before the rule is found, up to 5. A tricky rule pays, but a rule nobody can crack still earns at most 5.
Highest score after the last round wins. If someone leaves an online game they are skipped from then on; with fewer than three players left, the game ends.
Tips
- Test opposites. If MANGO fits, try a word that changes one thing: MANGOES, or a word with a different first letter.
- Short and long words quickly show whether the rule is about length.
- Watch the wrong guesses: when a player picks a wrong rule, the list tells you what it is not.
Brain teaser for groups
Secret Rule is a calm, clever party game for friends, classrooms and families. It needs no drawing and no acting, just curiosity and a good eye for patterns.