Fair enough to argue with.
A judge people can’t question is a judge people stop trusting. These are the rules the judge plays by, a full round showing them in action, and what happens to everything it hears.
The rulebook the judge follows.
Rule
1
Every call comes with a reason.
One line, under 12 words, shown and spoken. A score without a reason feels like a slot machine, and nobody replays a slot machine with their family.
Rule
2
Same answer, same call.
Answers are generated the same way every time and cached for the game, so “tapir” can't score 4 for one player and 3 for the next.
Rule
3
Anyone can challenge.
Each player gets two challenge flags per game. The judge re-rules with your argument in hand. Win and you keep the flag; lose and it costs a point. Disputes become part of the game instead of a fight about it.
Rule
4
Hidden things are sealed.
Secret rules, crowd boards and roles are fingerprinted on the display at the start and revealed at the end, so anyone can check nothing changed mid-game.
Rule
5
Stranger answers need more proof.
The bar for “counts” rises with rarity. Confident-sounding nonsense doesn't pay, and real deep cuts still do.
Rule
6
The judge is an edition.
Each model version is frozen and printed on the box, like a rulebook edition. Leaderboards are kept per edition, and fixes for exploits ship in the rules code, never by quietly changing the judge.
Rule
7
House rules are dials, not arguments.
Strictness, the rarity cap, kid mode, and how many challenges each player gets are all set before play starts.
Rule
8
Handicaps are out in the open.
Each player's rating and adjustment is visible, like a golf handicap, so a mixed-age table knows exactly how it's balanced.
Check a seal yourself.
Rule 4, working. Here is a Secret Rule game that sealed its rule at the start.
At the start of the game
Secret Rule, sealed
The display shows the rule’s fingerprint, a SHA-256 hash. Nobody can work the rule out from it, and nobody can change the rule without changing it.
At the end
Check it
The rule is revealed. Hash it again and compare. Try changing a single letter.
One round, every call.
Categories+, letter T, four players, two categories. Watch rules 1, 3 and 5 do their jobs: every call has a reason, a failed challenge costs a point, and the two rarest answers had to be defended.
| Seat | What was said | The call | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zebra | Letter T. An animal, then a reason to be late. Go. | ||
| Maya | “Tiger.” | CountsThe answer most tables give first. |
+1 |
| Jonah | “Tarsier.” | CountsSmall primate from Southeast Asia. Capped at 5. |
+5 |
| Sam | “Tigon.” | BorderlineA tiger-lion hybrid. Defend it in 10 seconds. |
|
| Sam | “It's a real animal. Zoos have them.” | CountsReal animal, even as a hybrid. |
+5 |
| Jonah | “Challenge. A hybrid isn't a species.” | Challenge failsThe category says animal, not species. |
−1 |
| Priya | “Turtle.” | CountsCommon, but not the most common. |
+2 |
| Maya | “Tectonic activity.” | BorderlineReal thing. Is it a real reason? Defend it. |
|
| Maya | “Earthquakes close roads.” | CountsFair. Roads do close. |
+5 |
| Jonah | “Traffic.” | CountsSaid at most tables. |
+1 |
| Sam | “Tuba practice.” | CountsSpecific, plausible, rarely said. |
+4 |
| Priya | “Time zone mix-up.” | CountsPlausible and uncommon. |
+4 |
Everything stays on the table.
The pipeline wakes when a turn starts and sleeps when it ends. The ring is lit whenever it's listening.
Speech becomes text as it's spoken, and the audio is discarded immediately.
It lives in memory and is erased when the game ends, unless you choose to save the scoresheet.
Everything needed to play runs on the device. Wi-Fi is only for updates and the Daily.
The optional camera module closes physically. Frames are processed and dropped, never stored.
Family-safe content only, no free-form persona play, and no network features.
When things go wrong.
| What can go wrong | What Zebra does about it |
|---|---|
| A noisy room, people talking over each other | Beamforming, plus a per-player lock-in tap. When it isn't sure, the judge asks for a repeat instead of guessing. |
| A misheard word | Low-confidence transcripts are shown on the display first, and players can tap to correct before the call. |
| The judge is confidently wrong about a fact | Factual categories use curated lists and verified question banks. The model only judges fuzzy things. |
| Kids' voices and strong accents | A recognizer tuned on children's speech and regional accents. [TO BE VALIDATED IN PLAYTESTS] |
| Players learn to game the judge | The rising proof bar, the challenge system, per-edition leaderboards, and exploit fixes shipped in rules code. |
| Offensive or unsafe answers | An on-device filter, a tighter kid mode, and persona and prompt decks written and reviewed by people. |
| Calls that feel arbitrary | Rules 1 and 3, and a playtest measure that tracks it: the share of players who say the calls were fair. |