Among the settings a host sees before a draw and guess game, hints look minor. They are a number from zero to three. But the number changes the feel of the whole evening, because it decides how long a table can be stuck. Here is what hints are, how they work in the version I run, and how to choose.
What are hints?
Every word is shown as a row of dashes, one for each letter, with a gap between the parts of a longer word. As the clock runs down, the table reveals letters one at a time. The host chooses how many: none, one, two or three. The default is two.
How do they interact with points?
A guess is worth more the earlier it arrives, from 500 points down to 100. Hints arrive as time runs out, which is when guesses are worth less anyway. So a hint helps you win a smaller prize. That is a deliberate design: hints keep a table from ending a drawing in silence, but they do not reward waiting.
If you sit back and wait for the letters, you will score 150 or 200 for a word that a quick guesser scored 450 for. The speed incentive stays intact.
What does a guess one letter off do?
If your guess is one letter away from the answer, you are told privately that you are close, and nobody else sees it. It is a hint of another kind. Together with the dashes and the letters, a close guess lets a stuck player home in on the word.
How many should you play with?
Zero: for experienced groups who want a pure test. Unguessed drawings are more frequent, and rounds run to the clock.
One: a light touch. Good for a group that knows each other's drawing style.
Two: the default, tuned for a mixed table. Most drawings are guessed by someone before the clock ends.
Three: for beginners and children, or when the word list includes hard words.
How do hints change the drawer's job?
With more hints, the drawer can relax slightly. The table will probably get there in the end, so the drawer can focus on a clean shape. With none, the drawer carries the whole burden, and the sound strategy is to start with the thing that gives the word away.
Because the drawer is paid from how fast the table read the drawing, a hint-assisted late guess pays the drawer little. That nudges the drawer to draw clearly early, whatever the hint setting.
What is a good setting for a video call?
Two or three. On a call, the table is spread across screens, and drawings can look smaller or slower to arrive. An extra hint evens that out.
What about a table with different ages?
Give the youngest players the most help. Three hints, 120 seconds and three words to choose from suit a mixed family, and the points still reward the quick.
Where can you set it?
In the lobby at Boardit, a free site I make, where up to twelve people can play a draw and guess game with friends, an online drawing game that runs in a browser. The host chooses the number before the game starts. Try one game each way and ask the table which they liked.
Do hints help the guessers or the drawer?
Both, in different ways. A guesser gets a foothold: three dashes and a letter in the middle rule out most words. A drawer gets forgiveness: a messy drawing can still be rescued by the letters. But the points go mostly to those who guess early, and the drawer's reward is based on how fast the table read the picture. So hints are a safety net under a game that still rewards speed.
A useful experiment: play a game with zero hints and another with three, using the same group. Compare how many drawings went unguessed, how many ended with the clock at zero, and how the mood changed. Most groups notice that zero hints produce more silence and three produce more laughter, and settle on two.
Kindness built into the clock
Hints are kindness built into the clock. Use as many as your table needs to keep the laughter going, and no more.
Ahmed Moaz builds Boardit, a free browser game site.