How to play Secret Code: rules and clue tips

The goal, a turn step by step, what makes a clue legal, and tips for both roles, for 4 to 20 players.

Updated 15 October 2026

Secret Code is a picture game for two teams, red and blue. 25 pictures sit on the shared screen. Each team has one clue giver who secretly knows which pictures are theirs, and gives one-word clues so their team can find them. One picture on the grid is a trap.

In GatherPlay's Secret Code the shared screen shows the grid and the clues, the two clue givers see the hidden key on their phones, and guessers tap pictures on theirs. Nobody needs cards or a printed key.

The goal

Be the first team to turn over all of your pictures. The team that goes first has 9 pictures, the other 8. Of the rest, 7 belong to nobody and 1 is the trap: the team that turns it over loses at once.

Setting up

• Split into two teams of at least two. GatherPlay deals balanced teams; anyone can switch before the start.
• Each team picks one clue giver. Only the two clue givers see the key: which pictures are red, blue, nobody's, or the trap.
• Sit with your team, with the screen where everyone can read it. Clue givers keep their phones to themselves.

A turn, step by step

1. The clue giver of the team on turn gives one word and a number, such as OCEAN 2: the word points at what some of their pictures show, the number says how many.
2. The team talks it over out loud. The clue giver says nothing more and keeps a straight face.
3. A guesser taps a picture and confirms. If it is one of yours, it turns over and you may keep going.
4. You must make at least one guess, and you may make up to the number plus one. The extra guess lets you pick up a picture you missed earlier.
5. A picture of nobody, or of the other team, ends your turn. A picture of the other team also counts for them.
6. You may end the turn yourself after your first guess. Then the other team gives its clue.

What makes a clue legal

• One word, in any language. In Vietnamese a word may have up to three syllables, like cá sấu, because each syllable is written apart.
• About what the pictures show. A picture can mean many things: a ring can be jewellery, a phone call or a boxing ring.
• Not about where a card sits on the grid.
• No extra hints: no gestures, no faces, no stress on a word.

Zero and no limit

A clue may use 0, meaning none of your pictures relate to it, or no limit at all. In both cases your team may guess as many pictures as it likes, but still at least one. Zero helps steer your team away from a dangerous picture; no limit helps pick up pictures left over from earlier clues.

When a clue breaks the rules

GatherPlay only checks that a clue is one word made of letters. The table decides the rest. If a clue broke the rules, the host rules it out: the turn ends, and the other team's clue giver may turn over one of their own cards for free before giving their clue.

Tips for clue givers

• A safe clue for two pictures beats a risky clue for four.
• Before you speak, check the clue against the trap and the other team's pictures.
• Look for the second reading of a picture: that is where clues link cards nobody else would.
• Think about what your team knows: shared jokes, places, and films make great clues.

Tips for guessers

• Say your reasons out loud. A teammate often spots the link you missed.
• Start with the picture you are surest of, and stop when the rest feel like a gamble.
• Remember old clues: the extra guess is for the picture you did not find last time.

Playing apart

Start a Discord or Google Meet call and share the shared screen's browser tab. Everyone joins on their own phone with the code, and clue givers keep their phones to themselves as usual. On Discord, each team can talk things over in its own voice channel and come back to the shared one for the clues.

Start a game

1. Open GatherPlay on the TV and host a Secret Code game.
2. Everyone joins with the QR code on the screen.
3. Start the game and choose teams. Clues can be in any language.