How do you read a word banner?
Every time a word lands, the top of the screen shows three or four lines. Learning to read them in a second is the most useful skill in the game:
- “name wrote”: who typed it. Useful in the final two, when you need to know which player is behind each word.
- The word itself in big letters, exactly as the writer typed it (typos included).
- A yellow line, only when the game converted the word, saying what it became.
- The tip line: the game’s own advice, such as “Climb something tall and keep moving!”. Treat it as an instruction.
Before the word lands you also see the writing in progress: “name is writing…”, then each letter as it is typed (“name: LAVA”). That gives you a second or two of warning before a big disaster hits.
Close words get converted to a known effect
When the game does not have an exact effect for a word, it picks the closest one it knows and tells everyone in yellow. Examples from our matches:
| Typed | Yellow line | Tip line that followed |
|---|---|---|
| KRAKEN | became a giant octopus! | A giant octopus! Stay out of its reach. |
| SURVIVE | became a safe house! | Safe house! Get inside - it won’t last forever! |
| SPEAR | became a weapon drop! | Melee drop at the red flare! First one there takes it. |
| PACIFICRIM | became a monster! | A monster! Stay quiet... it hears you run. |
| ORBITALGUN | became laser jump rope! | LASERS! Jump the beam-sometimes twice! |
| DICE | became lucky blocks! | Lucky blocks for everyone! Walk into one... feeling lucky? |
| DEMON | (no yellow line seen) | The DEVIL rose! Watch for fireballs... and don’t take his deals. |
So a creative word is never wasted, but you do not always get what you typed. If you want a specific effect, use the word the game already knows (see the word list).
Unknown names spawn a character
Names the game cannot match become a character with that name tag. In our matches SIMON, DUMMY and NEIGHBOUR all gave the same tip: “Someone new showed up... they really want you to know their name.” The character walked around with its name above its head. None of them hurt anyone while we watched, so typing a random name is usually a wasted turn, unless you just want to see your friend’s name on the island.
Numbers and typos
- Numbers can map to a meme. 67, 6767, 7867 and even 9999 all brought the same “67 kid”: “SIX SEVEN! The 67 kid is coming... walk away!”
- Typos are forgiven. KIL still gave the writer a knife like KILL, and GOOOOD was read as GG (“GG! Good game, everyone... it’s not over yet though.”).
- Joined words work. CHILLGUY became Chill Guy (“Monsters are chilling for 30s”) and ORBITALGUN was converted as shown above.
Other languages work
A Russian-speaking player in our second match typed ДОМИК and later ДОМ (“little house” and “house”). Both times the game answered “A house just grew out of the ground. Home sweet home!” Another Russian word gave “Everybody goes UP!”. The game understands at least some non-English words, so you can play in your own language.
The filter: blocked words lose your turn
Twice in our second match a word showed up as a row of #### and the game announced “Blocked by the filter. Rolling a new writer!” The turn went straight to someone else. The game checks every word against a text filter, so anything rude can cost you your turn. Keep it clean.
Words that only work once per match
| Word | What the game said the second time |
|---|---|
| NUKE | “NUKE only happens ONCE per match! Instead: Bombs away! Outrun them or hide under a roof!” |
| REVIVE (as SAVEALL) | “REVIVE only happens ONCE per match!” |
If a nuke already went off, writing NUKE again only gives bombs. Pick a word that stays on the map instead, like TORNADO (“It roams all match”).
Rules in the final duel
When two players are left, the game shows “FINAL DUEL!” and both players write at the same time: “A & B are writing…”, then “Both are ready!”, “Words in!”, and after the words land, “Both write again in 13”. Some words are switched off here so the duel can end:
- No force fields: INVINCIBLE and UNKILLABLE got “FORCEFIELD is off in the final! Rolling a new writer!”
- No peace: REST got “Peace time is over! No more peace in the final.”
Protection still exists through items: a Force Field item from your loadout is a different thing from the FORCEFIELD word. More tactics on how to win.
The writing timer
When you are picked, you see “Your turn to write!” with a countdown (16 seconds in our match) and a yellow Write button. Press Enter, type, and press Enter again. If the countdown runs out, the game writes a word for you: in our first match it wrote SNOW. Words written during the loading screen (we got MEDKIT and KATANA) did not show up in our Index, but words from the normal writing turn did.
How to use these rules
- Type words the game knows if you want a predictable result; check the word list.
- Don’t repeat NUKE in a match where one already went off.
- In the final, don’t plan on force-field or peace words; write something that pressures your opponent.
- Keep words clean so the filter does not skip your turn.
- Have a word ready before you are picked so the timer never runs out.