Trio Sync: a three-player team game

Why three: a clue pair and a guesser

In Trio Sync every team has exactly three players, no more and no fewer. On each turn two of them form the clue pair: they see the word and build a sentence together, one word each, taking it in turns. The third is the guesser: they see nothing and have to reach the answer by following the sentence as it takes shape.

The guesser changes on every one of the team’s turns, so over a game all three try both roles. That is why you need 3, 6, 9 or 12 players: one to four teams. With a single trio you play cooperatively, against your own score; with two trios or more it becomes a contest. There are no forbidden words: the only rule is that nobody may say the word being guessed.

Setting up trios, timer and deck

Once you have entered the names, you choose:

• Number of teams, from 1 to 4, and an automatic or manual team line-up. The app will not start until every team has exactly three players.
• Turn duration: 30, 45, 60 or 90 seconds; 60 by default. Bear in mind that the clock only runs while a word is in play, so a 60-second turn actually lasts longer.
• End of game: after a set number of rounds, from 1 to 10 turns per team, or at a target score between 5 and 60. In the second case the current round is always completed, so every team plays the same number of turns.
• Deck: Mixed draws from every theme (animals, food, objects, places, sport, jobs, nature, the body, adjectives, film and TV). With your own word list you can play with words you have chosen yourselves, but then there is no doubling.

The life of each word, rule by rule

1. New word. The pair brings it up on screen and the clock starts again. The app shows which of the two opens the sentence: on the next word, the other one starts.
2. Alternating clues. “Man’s”, “best”, “friend”: one word each, never saying the word to be guessed. The app cannot police the alternation, so it is down to the players’ honesty.
3. Answer. When the guesser wants to have a go, the clock stops. Each word allows only one attempt.
4. Right or wrong. The pair marks the outcome: right is +1, wrong is −1. The turn’s score never drops below zero.
5. Pass. You can skip a word while the clock is running, up to 3 times per turn; it scores 0.
6. Pause. After each outcome the clock stays stopped until the pair asks for the next word.

Doubling

During the pause the pair can switch on Doubling: the next word will be an expression made of several words, such as “football pitch” or “fish and chips”, and it will be worth +2 if guessed, −2 if wrong. It can only be switched on with at least 2 points in the turn, no more than twice per turn, and it applies only to the word that follows.

When time runs out, the turn’s points are added to the team’s total. The team with the most points at the end wins; if teams are level at the top, the game ends in a draw.

A turn with Anna, David and Chloe

Chloe is guessing; Anna and David keep the phone well out of her sight. Anna starts.

1. Dog. Anna: “Man’s”. David: “best”. Chloe does not wait for the end: “Dog!” Right, 1 point.
2. Firefighter. Now David opens: “Puts”. Anna: “out”. David: “fires”. Anna: “bravely”. “Firefighter!” 2 points, and doubling is unlocked.
3. The pair switches on Doubling. Up comes Football pitch. Anna: “Grass”. David: “goals”. Anna: “twenty-two”. David: “players”. Chloe hesitates, then takes the risk: “Football pitch!” Right, +2: that makes 4.
4. Elegant. David: “Dress”. Anna: “evening”. David: “very”. Chloe answers too soon: “Smart?” Wrong, −1: 3 points.
5. Brain. After two clues that lead nowhere, the pair decides to pass: 2 passes left.

Time runs out during the next word: the turn ends with 3 points for the team. Notice how Anna and David never tried to finish the sentence alone: each word narrowed the field a little further.

One phone held by the pair, or a phone each

With a single phone the two players in the pair hold it, as they are the only ones allowed to see the word, and they press all the buttons, including “Answer (pause timer)” when the guesser opens their mouth. If time runs out while a word is in play, that word does not count.

In a room everyone joins with the code or the QR code, and the roles are truly separated:

• The guesser has a button on their own phone to answer and stop the clock, and never receives the word; when doubling is on, the app only tells them that the answer is made up of several words.
• The pair sees the word on both phones and marks right, wrong, pass and doubling; the other trios see the time, the scores and whose turn it is.
• If time runs out with a word still open, there is a last word: the pair judges the guesser’s final attempt as right or wrong, or marks that no attempt was made, which closes the word on 0 points.
• Rooms play by rounds, from 1 to 5 turns per team, cooperative play included. The host has tools to unblock a stalled turn; if a player leaves the room, the trio is no longer complete and the game ends.

Getting in sync: tips, mistakes and disputes

• Leave room for your partner. Whoever says the first word sets the direction (“Animal…”), whoever follows narrows it down. Trying to finish the whole sentence yourself with enormously long words breaks the rhythm.
• Guessers, do not fire blind. You get one attempt per word and a mistake costs a point: one more clue is better than a rushed answer.
• Use doubling wisely. Switched on with exactly 2 points, one mistake wipes out the turn; with 4 or 5 points the risk is far easier to absorb.

The usual disputes are about clues that are too close to the answer (“doggy” for “dog”) and answers in a different form: sometimes the card shows the word in the plural or in a feminine form, such as “lioness” rather than “lion”. Decide before the game whether derived words and similar forms are allowed; during the turn the pair marks the outcome, and if the other team objects, you discuss it once the turn is over.

Who it suits

It is at its best with six people: two trios, quick turns and a real contest. With three it is great cooperative practice; with twelve it becomes a little tournament (to organise one, see Games for large groups). It works well from about the age of 10, and in a family it is fun to put a grandparent and a grandchild in the same trio, since they think in very different words: more ideas in Family games.

It rewards pairs who know each other well, such as couples, siblings or long-standing colleagues, but it is also a quick way to break the ice. If there are four, five or seven of you and the trios do not add up, fall back on Forbidden Word, which accepts teams of any size from two players upwards.