How to Play Sumbo

Setting up a game

One player opens Sumbo and creates a room. They get a short room code to share — drop it in a group chat, send it in a message, or read it out loud. Everyone else opens Sumbo, taps Join, and enters that code.

Up to six people can play in one room, each on their own phone, tablet or computer. There are no accounts to make and nothing to install — the whole game runs in the browser.

How a round works

Each round has a single answer — a film, a place, a person, an event. Sumbo reveals four to six short clue fragments, about 2.5 seconds apart. Every fragment is a different angle on the answer, and any one of them is enough if you recognise it.

Type your guess the moment you think you know it. The first correct guess wins the round. Rounds last 30 seconds; if nobody gets it, the answer is shown and play moves on. Spelling does not have to be exact — close guesses are accepted, so a small typo will not cost you the round.

Winning the match

Every round you win pushes your token further along a shared race track toward the finish line. The first player to ten round wins takes the match.

Because the clues come fast and everyone guesses at once, a match is quick and stays tense right to the end — the lead can change with a single round.

Tips for winning

Guess early. You do not need to wait for every clue — if the first fragment is enough, submit straight away and take the round before anyone else.

Keep half an eye on the other tokens to see how close the race is, and do not overthink spelling — type the answer and send it.

Frequently asked questions