Gather

Say It Different

Two teams, 60 seconds, one word after another – and the obvious words are off limits. A watcher from the other team sees the same card and hits “Forbidden!” the moment one slips out.

  • 4–12 players
  • 10–20 min
  • ages 10+
  • needs a TV

Guess more words as a team than the other team.

How it works

  1. You play in two teams. In turns, one person from the active team explains words for 60 seconds.
  2. Only the explainer sees the card on their phone, including the forbidden words.
  3. “Correct” scores a point, “Skip” scores nothing.
  4. A watcher from the other team sees the same card and taps “Forbidden!” if a forbidden word is said – that costs a point.
  5. After each round the TV shows all the words.

Good to know

  • No gestures, no rhymes and no part of the word itself.
  • Better to skip quickly than to get stuck.

On the TV and on your phone

What you see and tap, where and when – step by step:

  1. Choose the game and join
  2. Check the teams
  3. Set cards and rounds
  4. Start a round

How to play Say It Different with Gather

What makes Say It Different work

  • The rule fits in one sentence, yet every round plays out differently.
  • The watcher on the phone replaces the sand timer and the arguments about forbidden words.
  • After each round the TV shows every word – often the funniest moment of the night.

Pick Say It Different when there are four or more of you and it’s allowed to get loud.

Skip it when there are only three of you or someone hates talking under time pressure.

Frequently asked questions

How are the teams picked in Say It Different?

Gather draws two teams of equal size where possible, Gold and Blue; with an odd number, one team has one extra person. Explainer and watcher rotate within each team.

How many rounds do you play in Say It Different?

By default everyone explains once, or twice with up to six players, and both teams get the same number of rounds. Before the first round you can set anywhere from 2 to 30 rounds on the game table.

Does skipping a word cost a point?

No, skipping simply scores 0 – unlike house rules that take a point off. You only lose points when the watcher taps “Forbidden!”.

Are gestures or rhymes allowed in Say It Different?

No: no gestures, no rhymes and no part of the word itself. Gather isn’t listening – the watcher from the other team decides whether a forbidden word slipped out.

Which languages are the word cards available in?

German and English, with several hundred cards each. You choose the language on the game table before the first round, regardless of the language the app is set to.

Does the TV show the word being explained?

No. During the round only the explainer and the watcher see it on their phones; the TV lists the words after the round. Say It Different needs an Apple TV, iPad or Mac as the game table.

Variants and house rules

Gather plays by the rules above. Anything you can set in the app is marked – the rest are agreements you make at the table.

More or fewer rounds setting in Gather

Before the first round, set the number of rounds on the TV, anywhere from 2 to 30. By default everyone explains at least once; for a quick finale, fewer will do. Both teams always get the same number of rounds.

Cards in German setting in Gather

On the TV you can switch the card language between English and German. Fun for mixed groups, or good practice if everyone speaks a bit of German.

Three skips at most table agreement

Agree that each explainer may skip only three times per round. That forces you to have a go at the hard words too. The app doesn’t count skips – the watcher keeps an eye on it.

Good for

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