THE UNSAY FIELD NOTES
Word games without a grid.
Some word games ask you to find the right word. Creative word games ask what else you could say. UNSAY adds another player who can take your favourite word away.
What is a social word game?
A social word game makes other people part of the writing challenge. You might respond to a shared prompt, react to someone’s sentence, or work around a restriction chosen by another player. The interesting part is how your answer lands and how the group changes it.
In UNSAY, players write answers on one public board. A banned word affects everyone’s answer that uses it. That makes the same constraint personal: one person loses the punchline, another loses a perfectly useful “because”.
Choose the kind of wordplay you enjoy
| You enjoy… | Look for… |
|---|---|
| Finding one hidden solution | A word-guessing puzzle |
| Spotting patterns in letters | Anagrams or a letter-grid game |
| Making up a surprising sentence | A creative writing or prompt game |
| Reacting to other people’s choices | A social word game such as UNSAY |
UNSAY suits the last two. It gives you a prompt, a short answer limit and words that other players can ban. It has no hidden solution or spelling grid.
Three ways around a banned word
1. Change the word
If “sleep” disappears, “nap” might keep the meaning intact. Check the current ban list first: a substitute could be unavailable too.
2. Describe the thing
If “cat” disappears, try “my tiny, unpaid landlord”. Describing what something does can be funnier than reaching for a synonym.
3. Change the whole excuse
If “work” disappears, your late arrival might become “a delayed entrance to the place that funds my snacks”. The strongest rewrite can start with a different idea entirely.
These are examples to try with any banned-word writing challenge. On the UNSAY board, a rewrite must also avoid every other active ban and stay within 160 characters.
A browser word game to play with friends
Share unsay.lol, open the board on your own devices, and answer the same prompt. Read each other’s excuses, vote for your favourites and see what changes after a ban. You can also join without arranging a group.
The board is public, so other visitors can participate. UNSAY currently has no private room codes, chat or turn order. There is no app to install and no account to create; live play needs JavaScript and an internet connection.
Try a short writing challenge
Start with the prompt on the board. Write one answer you would normally give, then rewrite it without its most obvious word. Keeping the meaning is one challenge. Keeping the joke is another.
UNSAY lets other players choose that missing word for you. Reading, writing, rewriting and voting are free. The how-to-play guide explains your initial free ban credits, the ten-minute ban timer and optional purchases.