Just One is a cooperative party game released in 2018. It quickly gained recognition in the board game community, earning nominations for several awards. Among its achievements, it won the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award in 2019. The game is designed for social gatherings and focuses on teamwork rather than competition.

The concept behind the game is straightforward. In each round, one player becomes the active participant. This person needs to guess a specific word. The catch is that all the other players know this word, but the active player does not. To help, everyone must think of a single clue. However, the clues are not shared immediately. Instead, they are written down secretly first.

Before the active player gets to see the clues, the other players reveal their hints to each other simultaneously. This is where the unique twist comes into play. If any two players write down the same clue, those matching clues are removed from the game. The active player only gets to see the remaining, unique hints. This rule adds a layer of strategy and tension to the game.

As a clue giver, you face a difficult dilemma. You want to provide a hint that is helpful, but not too obvious. If your clue is too common, someone else might think of it, causing it to be discarded. On the other hand, if everyone tries to be too clever or obscure, the clues might become too confusing for the active player to understand. Finding the right balance is the key to success.

If there are too many repeated clues, the active player might end up with very little information. In the worst-case scenario, they could be left with no clues at all. The game is played over 13 rounds. The goal is to get as many correct guesses as possible. Each round, the active player gets only one chance to guess the word. Everyone takes turns being the active player so that everyone gets a chance to guess.

When I was the active player, I received only two clues. The clues were “space” and “creature.” Based on these hints, I had to make a guess. What would you have guessed? My guess was “alien,” and I was correct. It wasn’t too difficult with those two hints pointing in that direction.

The words to be guessed are printed on cards. Each card contains five different words. The active player draws a card from the deck and shows it to everyone else. However, the active player must not look at the words themselves. Then, the active player calls out a number from 1 to 5. This number determines which word on the card needs to be guessed for that round.

In one particular round, we had a card with five words. The active player chose the fourth word, which was “cycle.” As the clue givers, we had to come up with one-word hints. We wrote down “wheel,” “race,” “repeat,” and “life.” Would you have guessed the correct word based on these clues? As you can see, we utilized words that have multiple meanings or are commonly associated with the word “cycle.”

The game includes many cards with a wide variety of words. Some examples of words found in the game include “justice,” “mirror,” “whale,” and “castle.” The diversity of the words ensures that the game remains fresh and challenging. Players must think creatively to connect different concepts to the target word.

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 need to choose simpler words or provide more direct hints. The game is flexible enough to accommodate different skill levels and age groups.

When setting up the game, we prepared a stack of 13 cards, one for each round. The game tracks progress by the placement of the cards. If we made a correct guess, we placed the card face-up on the table. If we failed to guess the word, we placed it face-down. During one session, we were not doing very well, and many cards ended up face-down.

One of the words we had to guess was “drag.” Other players gave clues like “pull” and “movement.” I decided to give the clue “queen,” thinking of the term “drag queen.” Some players at the table did not understand why I chose that clue. Thankfully, the active player understood the connection and made the correct guess. In this case, “queen” was a crucial clue because it narrowed down the possibilities significantly.

As you play the game more often, you begin to understand the thinking patterns of your friends. You get a feel for the types of clues they tend to give. I became known as the player who gave quirky and unexpected clues. Because of this, other players would often try to avoid giving similar hints. Sometimes, one person on the team naturally takes on the role of giving the simplest, most straightforward clues. The rest of the team can collaborate by letting that person handle those obvious hints while they focus on more creative ones.

Here is a challenge for you. Try to guess the word based on these clues: “junior,” “student,” “starting,” “school,” “foundation,” and “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 set of clues to test your guessing skills: “vision,” “light,” “dark,” “underground,” “car,” and “drill.” These hints seem a bit scattered, but there is a single word that fits them all. Can you figure out what it is? The answer will be provided along with the previous one.

Many people might think of Just One as a game from India because “Jaswant” is a common Indian name. However, the game is popular worldwide. The concept is incredibly simple, yet it is captivating. It is a clever idea implemented very well. This is a game that casual gamers and non-gamers can quickly understand and enjoy. It is an excellent choice for social settings because the clues often trigger lively discussions and laughter. It serves as a great ice-breaker for parties and family gatherings.

Answers:

For the first set of clues (“junior,” “student,” “starting,” “school,” “foundation,” “pupil”), the answer is “primary.”

For the second set of clues (“vision,” “light,” “dark,” “underground,” “car,” “drill”), the answer is “tunnel.”