Decrypto FAQ
51 questions players ask · Updated Nov 6, 2026 · Full rulebook
Setup and components
Goal and tiebreaker
Rounds and codes
- Can a team try to intercept the other team's code in round one?
- Can the same code come up in two rounds in a row?
- Can a code repeat a digit, such as 4-4-1?
- After a successful interception, do the keywords change?
- If a team guesses wrong, does the Encryptor still reveal the real code?
- Do the teams decipher both codes at once or one after the other?
- Does the same player stay Encryptor for the whole game?
- Can the Encryptor join the discussion when their own clues are being decoded?
- What if the Encryptor gave clues in the wrong order because they misread their Code card?
- How does the sand timer work?
- Can a team give fewer than three clues to gamble on the other team's code?
- Can the other team overhear my team's discussion of the code?
Clues: what counts as meaning
- Can a clue be mimed, hummed or a full sentence rather than one word?
- Can a clue refer to a keyword's spelling, letter count, position or sound?
- Is a homophone or sound-alike clue legal, like karats for carrots or shoo for shoe?
- Can a clue rhyme with the keyword?
- Can a clue use part of the keyword's spelling, like EX for TEXAS, or spell its letters?
- Is a clue that is a longer form of the keyword legal, like NIGHT for NIGHTMARE or BUTTERY for BUTTER?
- Can I use a translation of one of my keywords as a clue, or a foreign-language meaning?
- Can the opposite of a keyword be a clue, like day for night?
- Can a clue only make sense by comparing it with the other keywords, like slow, fast and faster?
- Can I give a clue that deliberately points at the wrong word?
Clues: indirect, obscure and public knowledge
- Can a clue reach the keyword through several association steps?
- Is an obscure reference legal if the other team probably does not know it?
- Can a clue depend on private information, such as a teammate's family or an agreed secret meaning?
- Can a clue connect to the keyword only through another clue or another keyword?
- Are loosely connected clues legal, like elephant ears for Peanuts or leg for Army?
- Can a clue complete a phrase or name with the keyword, like Fresh Prince for winter or Water for Pollution?
- Can a clue use a brand or person's name chosen only because it shares letters with the keyword?
- Can a clue use any one meaning of a keyword that has several meanings, like tree or dog for BARK?
- Are clues like XX for MOTHER, THREE for MUSKETEERS or 'four' for TABLE legal?
- Can I hide the real clue among irrelevant words, or use an ellipsis?
- How do we judge a clue if the clue-giver's route to the keyword seems questionable?