The game
Word Assassins
Word Assassins is a social deduction party game played in person. Every player gets a secret target and a secret word. Get your target to say their word in normal conversation and they're out — and you inherit their target. The circle tightens until one player is left, or until time runs out and the most eliminations wins.
It needs three or more people who actually talk to each other — a house, a trip, an office, a wedding week — and nothing else. Played on paper it needs one friend to sit out and deal. Played with Coax, the app deals the targets and words, confirms kills and keeps the chain, so everyone plays.
How do you play Word Assassins?
- Arrange every player in one secret circle: A hunts B, B hunts C, the last player hunts A.
- Deal each player one ordinary, say-able secret word.
- Get your target to say your word in normal conversation — out loud or typed, both count.
- Call it. You inherit your victim's target and word.
- Last one standing wins — or, with a deadline, the most eliminations.
The full rules, with the questions every group asks in its first hour, are in How to play Word Assassins.
Common questions about Word Assassins
What is Word Assassins?
A social deduction party game played in person. Every player gets a secret target and a secret word. Get your target to say their word in normal conversation and they're out — and you inherit their target. Last one standing wins, or most eliminations when time runs out.
Is Word Assassins the same as Assassin or Assassins?
It's the word-based version. Classic Assassin(s) uses a prop — a water gun, a spoon — to tag your target. Word Assassins replaces the prop with a secret word, which is why it works at a dinner or a wedding where nobody is running around.
How many players do you need?
Three or more. Six is lively; past ten it becomes the only thing anyone talks about. Coax is free for up to 20 players per game, and larger events run by arrangement.
Do you need an app to play Word Assassins?
No — it runs on paper slips and a friend who sits out to deal. Coax removes the referee: it deals targets and words, confirms kills, keeps the chain, and shows the aftermath. Free on iOS and Android.
Is Coax the same as Word Assassins?
Coax is the app; Word Assassins is the game it runs. On the App Store the listing is titled "Word Assassins - Coax".
Guides
- How to play Word Assassins — The complete word assassins rules: setup, targets, secret words, what counts as a kill, and how a game actually ends, with or without an app.
- The best words for Word Assassins — What makes a word deadly, what makes one useless, and word lists that actually work; all drawn from the packs behind thousands of real games.
- How to run Word Assassins at a wedding — A step-by-step host guide for playing word assassins with a whole wedding: timing, words that fit the room, and putting the game on the big screen.
- Word Assassins strategy: how to actually win — Steering conversations, hiding your word, reading your hunter, and the mistakes that get people eliminated in the first hour.
- Word Assassins for team building (that people actually like) — How to run a multi-day word assassins game across an office, a retreat, or a season: the setup, the words, and the rules that keep it fun.
- The best social deduction games to play in person — Nine social deduction games for a room full of friends — what each one is actually good at, how many people it needs, and which ones run without anyone staring at a screen.