House players
Who the house players are, how to add one, how they play, and what leaves the table when one thinks with Claude.
House players are played by the computer; some think with Claude, an AI. They fill a seat when the party is one short, or the whole table when you are on your own.
Adding one
- On your own: on the front door, choose Play with the house, pick how many sit down (two to five), and tap Deal me in. Your phone is the host and the table.
- At a party: tap Add a house player among the seats on the big screen before the game starts.
- From the host’s phone: Add a house player in the menu, which asks what kind of voice should sit down: surprise me, playful, poetic, literal or cryptic. The voice changes how their clues sound, not how well they play.
A room can seat up to fifteen house players, as long as at least one person is at the table, and never more than the table holds. The host can remove one like anyone else.
How they play
- They tell stories, bluff and guess like anyone, and score like anyone. They see their own hand, never yours.
- They take their time like people do, and never all at once.
- They never guess first. The first confirmed guess starts everyone’s clock, and the house never puts a clock on the people.
- Their clues are short, at most eight words, and never simply name what is in the picture.
- They are never the host.
- A table of only house players does not play: at least one person has to be sitting at it.
On the big screen and the phones, a house player’s companion carries a small flame, and the word house beside its name in the lobby.
Two ways of thinking
Every house player can think with a small house brain that is built into the game: it works from the words that describe each painting, needs no network, and misses now and then on purpose, so it can be beaten.
When the site is connected to Claude, the first two house players at a table think with Claude, an AI made by Anthropic, for as long as the day’s allowance lasts. A decision Claude does not answer in time, or answers badly, is made by the house brain instead, so the table never waits on it.
What Claude sees
For each decision, a house player that thinks with Claude sends Anthropic the rules of the game, the round’s clue, and the pictures and descriptions of the cards that seat can see. It does not send anyone’s name, the scores, the room’s code, or anything a person typed except the clue. See privacy.
Last changed on 29 September 2026.