The goal: Get from the tee word to the hole word in as few strokes as possible, using the fanciest, most closely related words you can.
Each stroke: Type a word related to the previous one. Your word is scored on two things:
- Fanciness (0-100): How rare, long, or unusual your word is. Common words like "big" score low; words like "defenestration" score high.
- Relation (0-100): How closely your word connects to the previous word. Synonyms score highest; loose associations score lower.
Stroke value: Each stroke starts worth 1. Your fanciness and relation scores adjust it — a stroke can be worth anywhere from 0 (both scores perfect) to 2 (both scores zero). The better your words, the less each stroke costs you.
Aiming: When you're ready to finish the hole, hit "Aim for the Hole." Your word must relate to both the previous word and the hole word. Miss, and it costs you a penalty stroke — but you stay where you are and try again.
Lay up holes: Longer holes (par 5) have a lay up word — an intermediate checkpoint you must pass through before reaching the hole. Hit "Aim for the Lay Up" when you're ready. Once you reach the lay up, you continue toward the hole word.
Whiffs: If your word isn't a real word or has no connection to the previous word, it's a whiff — no stroke counted, but you'll get mocked.
Hole score: All weighted stroke values are added up and rounded to the nearest whole number. Like golf, lower is better.
The art: Balance speed and style. Fewer strokes is good, but fancy, well-connected words reduce each stroke's cost. A sesquipedalian shortcut beats a pedestrian slog every time.