Related Words
A word-sorting minigame — players pick every word that fits a theme from a grid that mixes real answers with decoys.
Related Words is one of the five minigame challenge types. Players see a shuffled grid of word tiles — the real theme words mixed with decoys — and must select exactly the words that fit the theme. Selecting all the right words and none of the decoys completes the challenge automatically.
What players experience
The challenge screen shows the clue as usual, then a "Related words" panel:
- If a theme is configured, a highlighted Theme card names it (e.g. "Italian food").
- Below is a shuffled grid of pill-shaped word tiles mixing the correct words with the decoys. Tapping a tile selects it; tapping again deselects.
- A Submit button sits under the grid (disabled until at least one tile is selected).
The player selects every word they think fits the theme and taps Submit.
The round is won only when every correct word is selected and no
decoy is — partial credit doesn't exist. On a win the panel shows
All matches found! and the app submits the completion automatically.
On a wrong submit the grid reveals the answer: green marks correct
picks, red marks misses (a correct word left unselected or a decoy that
was selected), with the message
Not quite. Green = right, red = missing or decoy. Try again.
A Try again button reshuffles the grid for
another go. Retries are free and unlimited.
If the challenge is opened before at least two correct words are configured, players see "This related-words challenge isn't fully configured yet — needs at least two correct words." instead of the game.
Scoring & answers
Related Words is answerless — the word lists live in the minigame config,
not in the challenge's answer field, and there is no Answer Type field in
the editor. The mobile app scores the selection locally and, on a win,
submits the sentinel answer minigame_completed; the server marks the
submission correct if and only if it receives that sentinel.
Points awarded on completion follow the standard challenge formula:
- Base points = the challenge's Points value (default 100), minus the hint deduction if the team used the hint, floored at 0.
- Speed bonuses apply for the first teams to finish, when configured.
- An active Double Down artifact effect doubles the whole award.
The outcome is client-trusted
The server never sees which tiles were tapped, so it trusts the win signal from the app — the same pattern as every minigame.
Configuring in the admin
In the challenge editor, set Type to Related Words. A Minigame Setup section appears with the config panel on the left and a Live preview on the right, so you can play the grid yourself before saving.
| Field | Constraints | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | 1–200 characters, required | — | The connecting idea, shown to players in the Theme card (e.g. "Italian food"). |
| Correct words (one per line) | 2–30 words, one per line, required | — | The tiles that must all be selected to win. |
| Decoy words (one per line) | 0–30 words, one per line | (none) | Wrong answers mixed into the grid. Selecting any decoy fails the submit. |
Invalid config blocks publishing
You can save a Related Words challenge without a config and fill it in
later, but the event cannot be published or started while any minigame
challenge has a missing or invalid configuration — the readiness check
invalid-minigame-config fails with "N minigame challenges have a missing
or invalid minigame configuration." See
Creating & Configuring Events.
Tips
- A wrong submit reveals the answer key. The green/red feedback shows exactly which words were right, and retries are free — so one failed attempt makes the retry trivial. Design it as a think-first challenge, not a gate; use speed bonuses if you want careless submits to cost something.
- Decoys carry the difficulty. With no decoys the answer is "select everything." Plausible near-misses (for the theme "Italian food": "baguette", "sushi") are what make players stop and think.
- Keep tiles short. Words render as compact pills in a wrapping grid — one or two short words per tile stays readable; long phrases crowd the layout.
- Ambiguity is a trap. Every correct word must be selected and every decoy avoided, with no partial credit — a debatable word ("is a calzone Italian food or a decoy?") turns the round into guesswork. Make each tile clearly in or clearly out.