Creating a game costs 1 token. That holds whether you’re up against other people, bots, or a mix. Joining a game someone else created is free.
Tokens come from:
- +10 when you create an account.
- +10 when you verify your email.
- Top-up request. When you’re low, top up by 10 (up to 20), once a day. After your first top-up you need a verified email to request again. Verifying also raises your cap to 30.
Guest accounts accrue tokens too. They’re held for you and transferred when you create an account.
The idea. 16 cards (labelled 0–15) each have a draw weight. Bigger label = lower weight = rarer card. The game runs 1000 simulations, drawing cards one at a time by weight. You score for matching drawn cards before others. You score more when other players didn’t pick the same cards you did.
Game setup
- Cards to pick (3, 4, or 5) — how many cards each player picks for the round.
- Cards to win (the “threshold”, 2–4, never more than cards-to-pick) — how many of your picks have to come up before the round ends. Lower = faster + more luck; higher = strategic-pick weight matters more.
- Max lottery number shapes the 16-number palette: a lower max (e.g. 7) keeps the numbers close together (near-even draw odds); a higher max (e.g. 20) makes the top number dominate, with a steep tail of rarely-drawn numbers. Default is 12.
- Ghost picks are automatic — you always get cards-to-pick + 2 of them (so picking 3 gives you 5 ghosts). They don’t count toward winning but tag a card as “you predicted this would be drawn,” affecting your bonus score, not your win condition.
During the round
- Tap a card to add it to your scoring picks (red).
- If ghost picks are on, switch to ghost mode and tap to add ghost picks (blue).
- Tap an already-picked card to remove it. A card can’t be both a scoring pick and a ghost.
- Submit when you’ve filled both lists.
How scoring works
- Each of 1000 simulations draws cards one at a time, weighted. The first players to reach the threshold “win” that simulation.
- If multiple players are tied at the threshold in a simulation, the win is split.
- Your score = how often you win, scaled by how few other players picked the same triggering cards. Picking what no-one else picked is the highest-value strategy.
- Ghost picks add a small predictor bonus — you get credit for foreseeing draws even on cards you didn’t pick to win on.
- The player with the unique top score wins the round — a tie for first means no outright winner.
Playing with bots
Bots are set on the create screen, in the Players section. Pick Specified number of players and any seats people don’t fill become bots when the game scores. Or pick Open join and set how many bots to add (default 0). Either way, bots count as players for scoring and use a mix of strategies (uniform, weighted, past-winners). Want to play right now without waiting for people? Don’t share the join code and you’ll be up against bots only.
The idea. Players place dots on a shape; each dot claims the territory closest to it (a Voronoi cell). You score for the area you claim — and you score more when your dot is far from anybody else’s.
Game setup
- Map shape — the playable area. Some are a single island, some have two or more disconnected regions. Picks must land inside the coloured area.
- Dots per player (1–6) — how many dots each player places. Fewer dots = each one matters more; more dots = trade-offs between coverage and clumping.
During the round
- Tap inside the coloured region to place a dot. Tap an existing dot to remove it.
- You see only your own dots while picking. Other players’ dots reveal at scoring time.
- Dots in the white/background region aren’t allowed.
- Submit when you’ve placed your full set.
How scoring works
- Every point of the map is assigned to the nearest dot — that’s the dot’s “cell”.
- Your area = total cell area you own.
- Your largest contiguity = the size of your biggest connected blob of cells. Fragmented territory is worth less — the difference between area and contiguity shows up as “points lost / discontiguity.”
- Any part of the map that no dot is the nearest neighbour for (statistically nil with continuous floats) shows as “unclaimed space.”
- The unique top scorer wins the round — a tie for first means no outright winner.
Playing with bots
Bots are set on the create screen, in the Players section. Pick Specified number of players and any seats people don’t fill become bots when the game scores. Or pick Open join and set how many bots to add (default 0). Bots count as players for scoring and place dots strategically (a mix of uniform-random and max-min-distance spread). Don’t share the join code to play only against bots.
The idea. The board is 3×3 (fixed). After everyone joins, each player builds their board by tapping 9 numbers from a shared palette of 16. Each number’s value is its draw weight — bigger numbers are drawn more often (so a bingo built with them splits more ways). A simulator draws numbers and counts your “bingos” (any complete row, column, or diagonal). You score for forming bingos — more if other players didn’t use the same numbers as you.
Game setup
- Max number shapes the 16-number palette: a lower max (e.g. 7) keeps the numbers close together (near-uniform draw odds); a higher max (e.g. 20) makes the top number dominate, with a steep tail of rarely-drawn numbers. Default is 12.
- You also set the deadline and your Players setup (fix the roster, or open join and add bots).
During the round
- Tap an empty slot to select it (highlighted).
- Tap a number chip in the palette to fill the selected slot. The board auto-advances to the next empty slot.
- Tap a filled slot to clear it.
- You can’t use the same number twice. Used numbers grey out in the palette.
- Submit when all 9 slots are filled.
How scoring works
- A simulator draws numbers one at a time, weighted by value.
- A bingo is any complete row, column, or diagonal (8 possible lines per board).
- Your score = expected count of bingos across many simulations, scaled down when other players also chose the numbers that led to your bingo (the non-consensus penalty).
- Strategic trade-off: bigger numbers form bingos faster but are popular — their bingos split many ways. Smaller numbers form bingos rarely but the wins are yours alone.
- The unique top scorer wins the round — a tie for first means no outright winner.
Playing with bots
Bots are set on the create screen, in the Players section. Pick Specified number of players and any seats people don’t fill become bots when the game scores. Or pick Open join and set how many bots to add (default 0). Bots count as players for scoring and build boards with various strategies (uniform-random pick, weighted-pick, centre-biased placement). Don’t share the join code to play only against bots.
The idea. A graph appears — vertices connected by edges. Each player picks K vertices. Your picks “diffuse” weight to their neighbours. You score for the weight piled up on vertices you picked — and you score more when other players didn’t pile weight onto the same vertices.
Game setup
- Graph size (8 / 12 / 16 or any 5–25) — how many vertices in the graph. Bigger graphs leave more room for non-consensus picks.
- Shape (planar / regular / interval / geometric) — the topology:
- planar — Delaunay triangulation of random points; geometric, locally dense.
- regular — every vertex has the same number of edges; uniform.
- interval — overlap-of-segments; chains + clusters.
- geometric — random points joined when close; organic blobs + bridges.
- K — how many vertices you pick. K close to the graph size = unavoidable overlap; K well below = strategic spread.
During the round
- Tap a vertex to pick it. Tap an already-picked vertex to clear it.
- Hover/tap shows the vertex’s neighbour count.
- Submit when you’ve picked exactly K vertices.
How scoring works
- Each picked vertex sends weight to its neighbours along the graph’s edges (one diffusion step).
- For every vertex on the graph, sum the weight that landed on it. Your raw score = the weight that landed on the vertices YOU picked.
- Non-consensus penalty: when multiple players sent weight to the same vertex, each player’s share is scaled down. The fewer competitors, the more weight you keep.
- Strategic trade-off: high-degree vertices receive lots of weight, but they’re also obvious picks — everyone piles on them. Low-degree vertices get less weight but it’s yours alone.
- The unique top scorer wins the round — a tie for first means no outright winner.
Playing with bots
Bots are set on the create screen, in the Players section. Pick Specified number of players and any seats people don’t fill become bots when the game scores. Or pick Open join and set how many bots to add (default 0). Bots count as players for scoring and pick vertices with various strategies (uniform-random K, greedy-coverage, greedy-degree). Don’t share the join code to play only against bots.
Arcade
Open join lets anyone with the code join, and you can add a set number of bots.
Open join lets anyone with the code join, and you can add a set number of bots.
Open join lets anyone with the code join, and you can add a set number of bots.
Open join lets anyone with the code join, and you can add a set number of bots.
Privacy Policy
skew.games is a free multiplayer arcade. We try to collect as little about you as we can while still running the games. This page explains what we do collect, why, and how to reach us. It is our own policy for our own site. There is no charge to play and nothing here is for sale.
What we collect
- A display name. The name you play under (you can pick one or get an auto-assigned one). Other players see it in games you share with them.
- Your gameplay. The picks you make, the games you join, and your scores. This is the substance of the games and how results are shown.
- A session token. When you start playing we store a random token in your browser's local storage so the site remembers you between visits. It is not an advertising identifier and we do not share it. (Site admins also get a sign-in cookie; that is only for the small set of people who run the arcade.)
- An email address (only if you choose to verify one). Verifying an email is optional. If you do, we send a one-time code to confirm it (through a third-party email service) and store the address so the account is recoverable and eligible for more play tokens. We do not send marketing email.
- Anonymous usage analytics. We record basic events about how the site is used (which screens load, rough performance) in a separate analytics store so we can fix problems and improve the games. These are tied to a random identifier, not to your real-world identity.
What we don't do
We don't sell your data. We don't share it with advertisers, and there are no third-party ad or tracking networks on the site. We only use outside services to make the product work (for example, a third-party email service to send a verification code if you ask for one). If we ever turn on error monitoring to catch crashes, it is configured to strip out personal details (email, name, IP) before anything is recorded.
How long we keep it
The games and their results are kept as part of the arcade's record. Gameplay data isn't deleted, because past rounds are what the game's opponents and statistics are built from. If you'd like your account anonymised or your email removed, email us (below) and we'll take care of the personal parts while keeping the gameplay record itself de-identified.
Contact
Questions, or want your information removed? Email privacy@skew.games.
Terms of Use
Thanks for playing. These are the ground rules for using skew.games. By playing, you agree to them. They're meant to be short and readable.
The arcade is free, and provided as-is
skew.games is free to play. We offer it as-is, without warranties, and we can't promise it will always be available or bug-free. We do our best, but you use it at your own discretion.
Be civil
Play fair and treat other people well. Don't harass or abuse other players, don't impersonate someone else, and don't pick display names meant to deceive or offend. We may remove a display name or an account that breaks these rules or disrupts the games for others.
About tokens
Games are played with tokens. Tokens are free play-credit: you get them by creating an account, verifying your email, or requesting tokens. They have no cash value, can't be bought, and can't be cashed out or redeemed for money or prizes. They're just a way to keep the games flowing. If you run out of them, have a friend be the one to create a game to invite you to.
Changes & contact
We may update these terms as the arcade grows; the date at the top shows the latest version. Questions? Email privacy@skew.games.