What's That?! — decode the clue before the room does
What's That?! puts one clue on the shared screen at a time — an emoji rebus or a clue described just badly enough to be funny — and reveals more of it every few seconds. Answer early for more points, or wait for an easier read and settle for less.
Plays like an emoji-and-charades guessing race crossed with a call-in trivia buzzer round — a clue unfolds in stages on the shared screen while every phone races to decode it, either head-to-head as a tug-of-war or as a leaderboard sprint for a bigger room.
Ideal player count
Exactly 2 turns it into a tug-of-war duel; 4–20 players makes for a lively race leaderboard.
Session length
10–20 minutes for a default 12-question game; configurable shorter or longer.
Phone experience
Your phone is where you answer — type your guess or tap one of four choices, depending on the question. Wrong guesses get a short private lockout before you can try again, and a near-miss or a partly-right word gets its own private nudge, never the answer itself.
TV / shared-screen experience
The shared screen reveals the clue in stages — a little more every few seconds — plus a ticker of who has already answered (names and times only, never their guess) and a countdown ring for the current stage. With exactly two players, the score becomes a tug-of-war bar that physically pulls toward whoever is ahead; with more, it is a straightforward leaderboard.
Scoring
Answering during the first clue stage scores the most; each later stage is worth less as the clue gets easier to read. If nobody has answered by the third stage, a fourth "hint" stage kicks in with a partially masked answer, worth the least. Three correct answers in a row add a small streak bonus. In a 2-player game, the tug-of-war bar tracks the running score gap; in a bigger room, the highest score after the final question wins.
Languages / content packs
English, नेपाली (Nepali), हिंदी (Hindi), Español (Spanish)
What players need
- • A phone with a browser — no app to install
- • One shared screen (TV, laptop, or monitor) for the staged clue
- • A GameBash room code to join
Best occasions
Family game night · House parties · Quick two-player duel · Mixed trivia-and-non-trivia groups
How What's That?! works
Every question is a single clue — an emoji rebus or a description written just badly enough to be a fun puzzle rather than a giveaway — that unfolds on the shared screen in stages a few seconds apart. Type-mode questions take a free-text guess with a short lockout after a miss; choose-mode questions give four options and lock in your pick.
Answer while the clue is still mostly hidden and you earn more points than someone who waits for the full picture. If a stage passes with players still stuck, a masked-answer hint stage gives the room one more, lower-value shot before the question closes.
Tug-of-war for two, a race for the room
With exactly two players, What's That?! becomes a tug-of-war: a momentum bar on the shared screen pulls toward whoever is ahead after every reveal, building genuine back-and-forth tension over a fixed number of questions.
With three or more, it plays as a straightforward leaderboard race — no teams, just whoever decodes the most clues, fastest, across the game.
Five categories, plus regional packs
Every game mixes clues from five categories by default — movies & shows, songs, idioms & proverbs, places & landmarks, and foods & dishes — or the host can restrict a round to just one. Categories stay built for a broad audience by default.
On top of the defaults, opt-in regional packs add Bollywood movies and songs and South Asian foods and places — a nice differentiator for a Nepali, Hindi, or South Asian-leaning group that wants clues written for them specifically, not translated from a US-centric list.
Keep exploring
Closest Wins
A numeric-estimation game if your group wants guessing without a clue to decode.
Quick Bash
A faster straight-trivia sprint if your group wants recall over decoding.
Word Bash
Another simultaneous word game with no turn order.
Nepali family games
Play What's That?! with the Nepali content pack.
Desi family games
Play What's That?! with the Hindi/Desi content pack, plus the Bollywood opt-in packs.
Frequently asked questions
- What kind of clues does What's That?! use?
- Two types mixed together: emoji rebuses (a movie or phrase spelled out in emoji) and clues described just badly enough on purpose to be a fun riddle rather than an obvious giveaway. Both unfold in stages, getting easier to read over time.
- Do I type my answer or pick from choices?
- It depends on the question — some are free-text (type your best guess, with a short lockout after a miss) and some are multiple-choice (pick from four options). The pack decides which for each clue.
- How does the 2-player tug-of-war work?
- With exactly two players, the shared screen shows a momentum bar that pulls toward whoever is ahead after each reveal — pure visualization on top of the same fixed-question match, no sudden death.
- What happens if nobody answers in time?
- If the third clue stage passes with players still stuck, a bonus hint stage shows a partially masked version of the answer for one more shot, worth less than solving it cold — the question never just dies with no chance to score.
- What are the regional packs?
- Opt-in packs beyond the five default categories — Bollywood movies, Bollywood songs, and South Asian foods and places — written specifically for that audience instead of being squeezed into the worldwide-recognizable defaults.
- How many players can play What's That?!
- From 2 up to 20. Exactly 2 unlocks the tug-of-war visual; 3 or more plays as a race leaderboard instead.
Free to start — pick What’s That?! once your room is created.