Ushanka Hat – game rules: turns, rounds, crocodile, online
In short
There are words in the hat. One player takes a word and explains it, the others guess. Guessed — a point and the next word. Whoever has the most points when the words run out wins.
A turn
A turn lasts 60 seconds by default. The word is guessed — tap "Guessed" (or swipe the card to the right): 1 point. Stuck — "Skip": the word goes back into the hat. 10 seconds before the end you hear a warning, in the last three seconds "beep, beep, beep" and a long signal. After the signal no more explaining, but the last word may still be guessed for 5 seconds. Not guessed — it will not come up again in this round.
What is not allowed
Saying the word itself or words with the same root, translating it into another language, pointing at the thing. In the "Gestures" round no words and no sounds, in the "One word" round only one word may be said. Rule broken — the word does not count: mark it as not guessed on the turn summary; in an online game the opponents tap "Violation" and the explainer loses 1 point.
How to play
Teams: you explain to your team, the team gets the point. Everyone for themselves: the pairs change in a circle, both the explainer and the guesser get a point. One explains to all: everybody guesses at once. Just the two of us: you explain to each other in turn, the score is shared.
Rounds and "Custom"
A plain game is one round with words. In "More settings" you can add the rounds "One word" and "Gestures": they are played on the same words, so guessing gets easier and easier. In the "Custom" mode you put the rounds together yourself: hat, crocodile, one word and a round of your own with your name and rule — up to 4 rounds in any order. If the hat is empty and the explainer has 10 seconds or more left, they start the next round with that time.
Crocodile
One player shows a word with gestures and facial expressions, no words and no sounds; everybody guesses. The guesser gets a point and by default shows next; the one showing gets a point too. By default each word gets 60 seconds and everyone shows 3 words; you can change this in the settings.
Online
Create a room and invite your friends with the code, the link or the QR code. "In the same room" — everybody sits together, each with their own phone, no call (up to 16 players). "Online with a call" — the players are in different places, voice and video run right in the game; such a room takes up to 6 phones. "Online, no call" — the same, but you call through your own app (Zoom, Telegram, Discord) or not at all: the game asks for no microphone or camera, up to 16 phones. Only those who may see the word see it. The host can stop the game with the ⏹ button in the header (or the back arrow → "Stop the game"): everybody goes back to the same room with the same code, teams and call — change the settings and start again. From the final screen, "Play again" leads to the same room too.
Download and play
The app is in Google Play's closed test right now. How to become a tester: How to install the app