dossier
A series of word-association mysteries. Players can either give testimony for a case, or sleuth through other witnesses' submissions.
The idea
Every case starts with an evidence table: 12 words pinned to a board. A few of them (2, 3 or 4) are secretly the exhibits. A witness knows which ones, and gives a single-word testimony that connects their meanings. A detective sees only the testimony and the 12 words, and has to find the exhibits.
You can play either side whenever you like. Rounds are asynchronous: a witness files testimony today, a detective cracks (or fails) it tomorrow.
As a witness
- You're dealt a table of 12 words. Choose how many exhibits you want: 2, 3 or 4. They're picked at random and highlighted your board.
- Think of one word that links the exhibits (and, ideally, none of the others).
- Your word must be letters only, 3–30 long, and can't match, contain or sit inside any of the 12 words. It also may not refer to the position, spelling, or anything that isn't the meaning of an exhibit.
- File it. Your testimony goes into the pool and you're dealt a fresh table.
- If you don't like a table, you may reroll it whenever you'd like.
As a detective
- You're given a testimony, the number of exhibits, and the 12 words. You are not told which are exhibits.
- Click notes to pin them. A string runs from the testimony to your first pick, then on to the next.
- One wrong pick fails the round immediately. Find every exhibit and you win. Order doesn't matter.
- Afterwards you see the answer, who the witness was, and the table's full file. You can rate the testimony 1–5 stars or report it.
You get one shot per evidence table, and you'll never be dealt a table you wrote about.
Competing testimonies
Once you've finished a table (win or lose), its page unlocks and you can offer your own one-word testimony for it. Several testimonies can compete for the same table. They're ranked by solve rate and rating, with a little smoothing so one lucky solve doesn't outrank a long track record. Until you've finished or written for a table, its contents stay sealed.
Profiles & leaderboards
- Your profile tracks detective and witness stats, solve % by number of exhibits, ratings given and received, and your round history.
- Click your emoji to change it. Click any username to visit that player's profile.
- Other players see your stats but never your case files.
- Leaderboards show the top 10 in each category. Percentage boards need at least 5 rounds to qualify.
Good conduct
- Rate honestly: ratings are about how helpful the testimony was, not whether you won.
- Keep testimonies clean. No slurs, harassment or spoilers. Use Report after a round if something crosses the line.
- Repeated or extreme offenses may result in your account being blocked.