Just One is a cooperative party game released in 2018. It quickly gained popularity and received numerous award nominations. Among its many honors, it won the most prestigious award in the board game world: the Spiel des Jahres in 2019. This game is designed for groups of friends and family to enjoy together. The rules are very easy to understand, making it perfect for casual players and non-gamers alike.
How the Game Works
The concept behind Just One is straightforward. In every round, one person becomes the active player. This player’s goal is to guess a specific word. The catch is that all the other players know what the word is, but the active player does not. To help the active player, everyone else must write down a single word as a clue. The challenge lies in how these clues are shared and processed.
Before the active player gets to see the clues, the other players reveal their written clues to each other at the same time. This is where the unique twist comes into play. If any two players happen to write down the exact same clue word, those matching clues are immediately hidden and removed from the game. The active player never sees them. This means that if there are too many repeated words, the active player might end up with very few clues, or even none at all.
As a clue giver, you face a difficult dilemma. You want to give a clue that is helpful, but you must avoid words that are too obvious. If your clue is too common, someone else is likely to think of it too, and it will get cancelled out. On the other hand, if everyone tries to be too clever and avoids the obvious clues, the clues you give might become too obscure or difficult to understand. The active player might not make the connection, and the team could fail the round.
A complete game of Just One consists of 13 rounds. The team’s objective is to get as many correct guesses as possible. During each round, the active player is allowed only one guess. To keep the game fair and fun, everyone takes turns being the active player. This ensures that all participants get a chance to be in the spotlight and experience the challenge from both sides.
Here is an example from a real game session. When I was the active player, I was presented with only two clues. The clues were “alien” and “spaceship”. Based on these two words, what would you guess the secret word was? My guess was “alien”, and I was correct. In this particular case, the answer was not too hard to figure out.
The words that players need to guess are printed on cards. Each card features five different words. The active player draws a card from the deck and shows it to everyone else, but they must not look at the words themselves. Once the card is shown, the active player announces a number from 1 to 5. This number indicates which specific word on the card needs to be guessed by the group.
In one specific round, we had a card with five words. The active player chose the fourth word, which was “cycle”. The other players then had to come up with a single-word clue to help guess this word. The clues given were “wheel”, “race”, “repeat”, and “life”. Would you have guessed the correct word based on these clues? As you can see, the players were using the fact that the word “cycle” has multiple meanings or is commonly associated with other concepts.
Here are some other examples of cards found in the game. The variety of words ensures that every game is different and interesting. Players must think creatively to connect the words on the card with a single helpful clue.
The game is certainly playable as a family game. However, depending on the age of the children playing, you may need to adjust how you give clues. For younger players, you might choose simpler words or give more direct hints. The game is flexible and allows for these adjustments to keep it enjoyable for everyone.
When we set up the game, we prepared a stack of 13 cards to represent the 13 rounds. The rules for tracking progress are simple. If the active player makes a correct guess, the team places the card face-up in a success pile. If the guess is incorrect, the card is placed face-down in a failure pile. During our session, we were not doing so well, and we had quite a few face-down cards.
One of the words we had to guess was “drag”. The other players gave clues like “pull” and “movement”. I decided to give the clue “queen”. This was a reference to the term “drag queen”. Some of the other players did not understand why I chose this clue at first. Thankfully, the active player understood the connection and made the correct guess. In this situation, “queen” was a very important clue. The active player had to find one word that was associated with every single clue given. The other clues were closely related to the physical action of dragging. However, finding a word that also related to “queen” was not easy, and it helped narrow down the possibilities significantly.
As you play more games, you begin to understand the thinking style of your friends. You get a feel for the kind of clues they tend to give. I became known as the player who gives quirky and unusual clues. Because of this, other players would often try to avoid giving similar types of clues. Maybe one person on the team will always give the simplest and most straightforward clue. The rest of the team can collaborate by letting that person take the lead on obvious clues while they focus on more creative or specific hints.
Try to guess this word based on the following clues: “junior”, “student”, “starting”, “school”, “foundation”, “pupil”. Take a moment to think about what word connects all of these concepts. The answer will be revealed at the end of the article.
Here is another challenge for you. Consider these clues: “vision”, “light”, “dark”, “underground”, “car”, “drill”. This set of clues is quite varied, ranging from physical senses to objects and actions. What single word do you think fits all of these descriptions?
I often think of Just One as a game with a connection to India, because the name “Jaswant” is a common Indian name. The concept of the game is incredibly simple, yet it is very captivating. It is a clever idea that has been implemented very well. This is a game that casual gamers and people who do not usually play board games can quickly get into. It is an excellent choice for a social setting because all the clues and discussions will trigger much conversation and laughter. It serves as a great ice-breaker for parties and gatherings.
For the first set of clues: “junior”, “student”, “starting”, “school”, “foundation”, “pupil”. The correct answer is “primary”. This word relates to primary school, primary students, and the beginning or primary stage of education.
For the second set of clues: “vision”, “light”, “dark”, “underground”, “car”, “drill”. The correct answer is “tunnel”. A tunnel is often dark and underground, cars drive through them, and they are constructed using drills. Vision is also relevant as you look through a tunnel.
