How to Play
Nuclear Connections is a social word game, where everyone tries to figure out which tiles belong to which player.
Games all have a theme: “Favorite Books”, “I Am ____”, “Weird Things I Own”, and everyone submits four tiles, each with one or a few words on that theme. The tiles are mixed up onto a board, and then the guessing begins. Try to find the four tiles that each player submitted. Once you have made guesses for all the tiles, submit your board, and see how you did! There are many different awards to win, but the best part is hearing the stories behind each tile.
How to Play
- Joining: You don’t need an account to join a game. Just the link the host provides, or from scanning the QR code from their game page.
- Submit your tiles: Make sure they’re on theme and check your spelling.
- Guess which tiles belong to who: Each player has submitted four tiles for themselves. Assign a name to a tile by first selecting from the Name Picker at the bottom of the screen, then tapping the tile. Once four tiles have been selected for a player, they will move together to the top of the list. (Remember, this doesn’t mean they are right!)
- Submit: Once you have assigned four tiles to each player, submit your answers.
- Awards time: After all players have submitted, you can see the results. We like to go around and share why we picked each tile.
Scoring
- Each correct guess is worth 1 point.
- Guessing all four of another player’s tiles is an additional 1 point.
- Make sure you get your own tiles right, they aren’t automatically given to you.
- Any tiles that are exactly identical to each other can be interchanged with each other.
Awards
Global Awards
Heart on Sleeve: Most correct guesses by other players for their tiles.
John Le Carré: Least correct guesses by other players for their tiles.
Telescope: Most Total Points.
BFFs: Two players who guessed each other’s answers perfectly.
Nuclear Core (3 BFFs): A rare occurrence, three players who guessed each other’s answers perfectly.
Thermonuclear Core (4+ BFFs): Exceptionally rare. Four or more players who guessed each other’s answers perfectly.
Per Player Awards
Secret Admirer: You perfectly guessed the tiles for Player X, but they missed all your tiles.
How to Host Your Own Game
- Sign up for a host account if you don’t already have one.
- Create a game: From the games page, pick a theme. We’ve provided suggested themes from the best games we’ve played, but you can make your own.
- Share the link: Send it to all your players. They can access the game by following the link you share, or by scanning the QR code from the game page. That’s all they need, just the link. No account is needed to play.
- Begin the game: Once everyone has submitted their tiles, begin the game from the game’s page. You can access your game from the games page. (You might need to refresh to see the latest submissions.)
- Awards time: When the game is done, go around and ask each player about their tiles. Nuclear Connections is all about getting to know each other better. There’s probably an interesting story behind some of the tiles!
Tips for having the most fun
In-person or over Zoom
Get some face-time with each other. Either in-person, or over zoom. We like to play as a family after weekend brunch, while waiting for our food to come when eating out, or before our weekly zoom scrabble games. Nuclear Connections works best when you can see each other, and are playing live.
Get to know each other!
Share the meaning behind each tile. Nuclear Connections is great as an ice breaker, and great for getting to know each other better. The game’s creators like to go around and have everyone share a little bit about their four tiles while looking at the results.