Alias is a team-based word-guessing party game. Players explain words using synonyms, opposites, or clues while their teammates guess the words before time runs out. Teams advance on a board based on correct guesses. The first team to reach the Finish space wins.
Components
1 Game board
6 Playing pieces
400 Word cards (8 words per card)
1 Sand timer
Setup
Shuffle the cards, turning over the last card in the pack to indicate when reshuffling is needed.
Each team chooses a colored playing piece and places it on the Start space.
Determine which player on each team explains first.
Turn Structure
The explaining player takes 15-20 cards from the pack.
The other teams choose a number from 1 to 8, which determines which word on each card must be explained.
Flip the sand timer. The explaining player describes words while teammates guess.
When the timer runs out, other teams yell “stop.” If a word is being explained, guessing becomes open to all teams – the fastest correct answer earns that team 1 space forward.
Count cards successfully guessed. Subtract mistakes and skips. The team moves that many spaces forward.
Play passes to the next team. The word number is now determined by the space the team’s piece occupies on the board.
Actions
Explaining Words
Use synonyms, opposites, or descriptive clues.
You CANNOT use any part of the word on the card or a derivative of it.
You CAN use opposites (e.g., “big” = “the opposite of small”).
Foreign languages are not allowed.
Give as many hints as needed until the timer runs out.
Only exact words are accepted (e.g., “Running” is required, “Run” is not acceptable).
Mistakes and Skipping
If the explainer says a part of the word or a derivative, the word is not accepted and the team moves 1 space backward.
You may skip a difficult word, but this also costs 1 space backward.
Final score = words guessed minus mistakes and skips.
Stealing
Dark spaces on the board are Stealing spaces.
When a team passes or stops on a dark space, the round is open to all teams.
The explaining player takes only 6 cards. No sand timer is used.
Only one player explains; everyone else guesses.
The quickest team to guess each word moves 1 space forward per correct guess.
If a team passes a dark space using bonus steps from stealing another team, no stealing round occurs for that team.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
The first team to reach the Finish space wins the game.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
Team members take turns at explaining in each round.
The word number on the card corresponds to the number shown on the board space where the team’s piece sits.
If the word has two parts (e.g., “tape recorder”) and someone guesses one part correctly, you may use that part in further clues.
Other teams must listen closely to catch mistakes.