THE CASE BRIEF
How to play
Share your music, guess who picked each song, and discover your group’s favorites. Play with 3–12 people. Everyone uses their real name; a nickname is optional.
Choose your game style
- Pass & play: share one device. Pass it privately for song choices, guesses and round ballots.
- Play on your own devices: join a private room through an invite link or code. The host chooses Host device only to listen together and guess on separate phones, or Everyone’s device to listen and take turns at your own pace from anywhere, without timers. There is no in-game chat. Return in the same browser to open your saved games.
Play a round
- Set the scene. The host chooses the number of rounds, playback length, scoring mode and other settings.
- Pick a secret song. Tap Ready, search for a song or artist, select a result and choose Lock My Song. To use a YouTube link instead, open the option to link your own song. If a song is already taken, choose another.
- Listen and guess. Match each track to the person you think chose it. Remote players can use Play all songs or listen in any order, then review their choices before locking.
- Vote on the music. Complete the host’s selected scoring mode below. Keep your choices private until everyone finishes.
- Open the results. Discover who picked each song and how the points were awarded. In remote play, results unlock after everyone finishes or is skipped; acknowledge the results to continue to your next turn.
Timers in local play
In pass-and-play and together mode, the song-selection timer begins when you tap Ready. The final ten seconds show a countdown, followed by a two-second grace period. An expired guessing timer skips that guess. An expired song-selection timer sounds an overtime reminder when timer sounds are enabled; pass-and-play waits for a choice, while a together-room host can skip an overdue player when enough players remain. Music ballots have no timer.
Two ways to vote on the music
The host chooses Boo & Favorite or Rank every song. Both work in all three game styles. A scoring change applies to a future round, so the rules stay the same throughout the current round.
Guessing points count in both modes
- Earn 1 point for correctly guessing who picked someone else’s song. Your own song never earns you a guessing point.
- Earn 3 points if nobody else correctly guesses that you picked your song.
- Music-vote points are added to these points. The highest total after the final round wins.
Boo & Favorite
- Choose one favorite every round. You must pick another player’s song.
- You may boo one song per round. Booing is optional, and you cannot boo your own song.
- A boo gives up your guess for that song. If you already guessed, that guess is removed before scoring and earns no point.
- The player whose song receives the most favorite votes earns 2 points. The player whose song receives the most boos loses 2 points.
- Ties split each two-point award or penalty equally. For example, two favorite leaders earn 1 point each; two boo leaders lose 1 point each. If nobody boos, nobody receives a boo penalty.
Rank every song
- Rank every song except your own, from favorite to least favorite. Each song gets one position; there are no tied positions on your individual ballot.
- Use the ranking menu on each song card. Choosing a position already held by another song swaps their ranks. Review the complete order before locking it.
- The game adds up everyone’s rankings. With six players, each ballot ranks five songs: first choice contributes 5 tally points, then 4, 3, 2 and 1.
- Those tally points determine the overall song order. With six players, the final places award 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 0 game points to the songs’ owners. The tally itself is not added to your game score.
- Tied songs share the points for the places they occupy. A tie for second and third splits 4 + 3 points, giving each player 3.5 points.
There is no separate boo or favorite vote in Ranked mode—your ranking is your music ballot. Guessing points still count.
When do I lock my votes?
Pass & play and Together, separate phones: choose your suspect and music vote together on each song card, then lock your choice. After the last song, review and confirm your private, untimed music ballot before the reveal. In pass-and-play, hand the device to the named player and let them tap Ready.
Play remotely: listen in any order and make your guess, favorite, boo or rank directly on each song card. Edit these choices until you select Lock guesses & round ballot. Locking submits both together. You cannot change a locked ballot.
Results show the music votes or ranking tally, the points awarded, and the updated standings. Fractions may be displayed rounded to two decimal places.
If someone sits out a remote round
The host can skip a player. Their votes do not count and they earn no points that round; they return next round. If listening has already started, their submitted song stays in the playlist. Ranking awards cover the remaining eligible song owners. If no other songs remain, you have no music votes to make.
An older saved game may still use original guessing-only scoring until the host selects one of these modes for a future round.