Describe the word without saying it, or any part of it. The second they get it, tap the word and hand the phone over.
Tap anywhere when they get it
The Hot Potato
A word comes up. Describe it without saying it. The moment they get it, hand the phone on — and don't be holding it when the buzzer goes, because nobody knows when that is.
The game
Teams & words
How it's played
Two teams, one phone, and a timer nobody can see.
The rules
A word appears. Describe it to your own team — you may say anything at all except the word itself, any part of it, and anything that rhymes with it. No spelling, no first letters, no hand signals. The moment somebody on your team says it, tap the word and hand the phone to the other team, who get the next word. When the buzzer goes, whoever is holding the phone has lost the point, and the other team scores it. First team to seven wins.
Why the clock is hidden
Because a visible countdown turns this into a race you can pace, and a hidden one turns it into a hot potato. The round is somewhere between forty-five and seventy-five seconds and the phone will never tell you where — all it does is tick, faster and faster, so everybody in the room knows it is close and nobody knows how close. That last ten seconds is the entire reason to play.
Skipping costs you
If a word is impossible, you can skip it — but the phone stays in your hands. A skip that passed the phone on would be the best move in the game and nobody would ever describe anything.
The one house rule worth having
If the describer says any part of the word, the phone changes hands immediately and the word is dead. It is the only rule that needs enforcing and it enforces itself — everybody in the room heard it.