Who Is Undercover? · 5–10
How to pick a good Who Is Undercover? word pair.
The whole game rests on the pair. Too similar and nobody can tell the undercover apart; too different and they give themselves away in one sentence. These are the rules we use for our own packs.
What makes a pair work
Same category, different details
Both words should answer the same question (a drink, a place, an instrument) but differ in a way a careful clue can reveal.
Describable in a few words
Everyone has to give a clue without saying the word, so pick everyday things people know, not brand names or niche jargon.
No word inside the other
Avoid pairs where one word contains the other or is a direct translation of it; the first clue would settle it.
Known to the whole table
Local food, places and slang make great pairs, as long as everyone at this table knows both words.
Pairs that work
| Civilians | Undercover | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Honey | Syrup | Both sweet and sticky; one comes from bees. |
| Lighthouse | Windmill | Tall buildings by the sea or in fields that you rarely go inside. |
| Ladder | Stairs | You climb both; only one moves around. |
| Pillow | Cushion | Soft, square-ish, found in the same rooms. |
| Violin | Cello | Same shape and sound, very different size and posture. |
| Lemon | Lime | Sour, citrus, used in drinks; the colour is the tell. |
Too close
| Civilians | Undercover | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mug | Cup | Almost every honest clue fits both, so voting becomes a guess. |
| Rock | Stone | Many people treat these as the same word. |
Too far apart
| Civilians | Undercover | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Penguin | Volcano | The undercover's first clue gives them away. |
| Toothpaste | Rocket | No shared ground to bluff with. |
In the game, the words come from our packs
partygame deals from hand-written packs of 32 pairs per language (English, Simplified Chinese and a Taiwan pack in Traditional Chinese). The examples on this page are a separate set and never appear in a game.
Play Who Is Undercover? →