How to play
Dont is played in teams on one phone. One player describes, their team guesses, and the clock is always running.
What you need
- One phone with Dont.
- At least 4 players: 2 teams of 2. Up to 7 teams of up to 7 players each.
- Team sizes can differ by one player at most, so odd numbers work too: 3 against 2 is fine.
Setting up
- Choose the number of teams (2 to 7) and the round time: 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 or 180 seconds. The default is 60.
- Choose how to win: by rounds (1 to 20, default 7) or by points (20 to 100, default 40).
- Turn on Penalty on Skip if skipping a card should cost a point. It's off by default.
- Create your teams, or pick teams you saved last time. Players and teams are saved on your phone.
- Pick a deck. General is free. A themed deck (Movies, Games, Music or TV Shows) unlocks for one game when you watch an ad, or permanently with Premium.
A turn
- Dont shows whose turn it is. Pass the phone to that player and tap Go.
- After a 3‑2‑1 countdown, the first card appears: a word and five taboo words.
- Describe the word so your team guesses it, without saying any of the taboo words.
- Mark each card, then the next one appears. Keep going until the timer runs out.
- The turn summary shows your points and every word you played. Then the next team plays. Within each team, players take turns describing.
| Action | How | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Correct | Swipe right or tap Correct when your team says the word. | +1 |
| Skip | Swipe up or tap Skip to move to the next card. | 0, or −1 with Penalty on Skip |
| Wrong | Swipe left or tap Wrong when the describer says a taboo word. | −1 |
Each time a card comes up, Dont picks five of its taboo words at random, so the same card can play differently. Cards don't repeat until the whole deck has been played.
Scoring
- Correct: +1 point.
- Wrong: −1 point, always.
- Skip: no change, or −1 point if Penalty on Skip is on.
- A turn can end with negative points.
Winning
By rounds (default)
Play the number of rounds you chose. The team with the most points wins, and a tie is possible.
By points
The first team to reach the target wins. The game ends right after the turn in which a team gets there.
After the game, Rematch starts a new game with the same teams and rules. A themed deck needs unlocking again.
Dont Legends
Every finished game counts toward Dont Legends, the hall of fame on your phone:
- Dont Whisperer
- Master describer: the player with the most correct answers
- Dont Know How
- Still learning: the player with the fewest correct answers
- Dont Wanna Say
- Most skips
- Team Dont Stop
- Most wins
- Team Dont Even
- Most defeats
An example turn
Team Sunrise (Alex and Sam) against Team Comets, 60‑second turns, Penalty on Skip off. Alex describes first.
| Card | Taboo words shown | What happened | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pizza | Eat, Food, Italy, Cheese, Tomato | Alex: “Round and flat, it comes in a box and you cut it into slices…” Sam: “Pizza!” | Correct: +1 |
| Volcano | Mountain, Lava, Fire, Explode, Eruption | Alex: “It's a big mountain that…” “Mountain” is on the card. | Wrong: −1 |
| Snowman | Winter, Cold, Carrot, Snow, White | Alex can't think of a way in and moves on. | Skip: 0 |
| Umbrella | Rain, Water, Dry, Sky, Shade | Alex: “You open it over your head when the weather turns bad.” Sam: “Umbrella!” | Correct: +1 |
Time's up. The turn summary shows 2 correct, 1 taboo and 1 skip: 1 point for Team Sunrise (0 with Penalty on Skip). Now it's Team Comets' turn.
Tips for describing
- Start broad, then narrow down: “It's a food…”, “It's something you wear…”.
- Describe what it does, where you find it, or who uses it.
- Opposites and examples are fast: “Not hot but…”, “Like a cat, but bigger…”.
- Skip early. A stuck card eats your clock, and with Penalty on Skip it costs a point.
- Decide before you start whether word forms count as taboo, for example “musical” when “Music” is on the card. Most groups say yes.
- Let someone from the other team watch the card. Taboo words are easy to miss when you're guessing.
House rules
Optional twists to agree on before you start. They aren't settings in the app: your group keeps track.
- Taboo police
- A player from the other team watches the card over the describer's shoulder and calls out taboo words.
- Hands in pockets
- No gestures allowed. Words only.
- Sound effects only
- For one round, the describer may only use noises, no words.
- One word at a time
- The describer pauses after every single word.
- Mime starter
- The first card of every turn must be mimed: no words, no sounds.
- Lightning game
- Play a whole game with 30‑second turns.
Hosting 4, 8 or 12+ players
Suggestions for different group sizes. Team sizes can differ by one player at most.
- 4 players
- 2 teams of 2. Partners take turns describing. The defaults (60‑second turns, by rounds) work well.
- 8 players
- 2 teams of 4 for lots of guessing, or 4 teams of 2 for more competition. With 4 teams, each team waits longer for its turn, so keep turns at 60 seconds or less.
- 12 or more
- 3 teams of 4, 4 teams of 3, or 6 teams of 2, up to 7 teams of 7 (49 players). Shorter turns (30 to 60 seconds) keep everyone involved. If your numbers don't divide evenly, make teams that differ by one player, for example 5, 4 and 4 for 13 players.
Ready to play?
Get Dont, make your teams, and don't say it.
- Coming soon on Google Play