Fourteen games people already love, rebuilt around a judge. The rules stay familiar. What changes is that scoring can reward cleverness, nobody has to sit out to run the game, and the “does that count?” fight is over in two seconds.
Calls these games rely on, and how many use each
Built-on names identify the game each retrofit starts from. They’re licensing targets, not partnerships.
Same letter, same list of categories, but every answer is scored by how unlikely it was.
Zebra’s job
Checks that each answer fits the category and the letter, then scores its rarity. Borderline answers get 10 seconds to be defended out loud.
Scoring
1 to 5 points per answer: one point for every halving of how likely it was. Invalid answers score zero, and a failed defense costs a point.
Any question, any crowd, surveyed on the spot.
Zebra’s job
Simulates 100 people from the crowd you pick (nurses, kindergarteners, people in 1985) and builds the answer board. Matches what you say to the right slot, so “grandma's house” hits “relatives.”
Scoring
Classic board points. In reverse mode you score for valid answers the fewest of the 100 gave.
Clue legality enforced instantly, plus a read on every clue after the game.
Zebra’s job
Blocks illegal clues: board words, their forms, translations. Shows how close each clue sat to the assassin, and can take the spymaster seat when you're a player short.
Scoring
The original win condition, with an optional bonus for tight clues that connect three or more words.
A buzzer that actually catches everything.
Zebra’s job
Buzzes forbidden words, their forms, sound-alikes, rhymes and spelled-out letters the instant they're said. Counts how many words each clue took.
Scoring
Standard points, plus an efficiency bonus for the fewest words to a correct guess.
Duplicate clues cancel themselves, including the sneaky ones.
Zebra’s job
Cancels identical clues and their variants: plurals, word families, same-root compounds. Rules on whether the final guess matches.
Scoring
Cooperative score out of 13 cards, as in the original.
Name three things in five seconds, with a judge that keeps up.
Zebra’s job
Listens as you speak and validates each item as it's said, so the clock and the call finish together.
Scoring
1 point per completed prompt, plus a bonus when the third answer is a rare one.
Fake definitions for real obscure words, with the judge playing one extra liar.
Zebra’s job
Rules when a player's fake is close enough to the real definition to count as correct. Writes a decoy of its own, and reads every entry in the same voice so handwriting can't give anyone away.
Scoring
Points for fooling players, for picking the real definition, and for spotting the judge's decoy.
The judge plays a character each round, and you play to its taste.
Zebra’s job
Draws a persona card (a Victorian ghost, a tired kindergarten teacher, a golden retriever) and picks the winner in character, with a one-line reason. Family-safe by default.
Scoring
Win the round, keep the card. Bonus if you predicted the pick before the reveal.
Free-form answers with partial credit, and difficulty tuned to each player.
Zebra’s job
Accepts close-enough answers and rules on specificity. Keeps a rating per player so a 10-year-old and a grandparent can compete on one board. Facts come from a verified question bank, not the model's memory.
Scoring
Wedges as usual. Partial credit moves you half a space.
Everyone plays. The device runs the night.
Zebra’s job
Deals roles to seat tokens, narrates, collects night actions privately when you tap your token, counts votes, and never leaks anything through tone or timing. Ends with a story recap of the game.
Scoring
Team win, as in the original.
Say “on the record” and a promise becomes enforceable.
Zebra’s job
Logs trades and on-record promises, reminds the table when one comes due, and applies the penalty when one breaks. Answers rules questions from the loaded rulebook.
Scoring
The base game's scoring. Breaking an on-record promise costs the penalty the table agreed before play.
The judge can hold the dial, so two players or a whole room can play.
Zebra’s job
Places the target on any spectrum using its model of where most people would put it, or scores how far each guess landed from that consensus.
Scoring
The standard scoring bands.
The camera catches letters in drawings and mouthed words in charades, and races you as a rival guesser.
Zebra’s job
Flags written letters and numbers in drawings, and mouthing in charades. In rival mode it guesses too, and your team has to beat it.
Scoring
Standard, with a bonus for beating the machine.
Two suspects agree on a story, then get questioned separately. The judge compares testimony.
Zebra’s job
Records both interrogations and flags every point where the stories disagree, with the two lines side by side.
Scoring
Suspects lose a point per contradiction. Detectives score for the questions that produced one.