Party game
Wavelength
Read your teammates' minds with one clue and a big red dial
- Set-up
- Under a minute
- Reading
- Little
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Big groups at a family get-together or Diwali party: split into two teams, and latecomers can join mid-game
Think twice if You mostly play as two or three: there is a cooperative mode, but the game is at its best with two teams
How we rate it
Learning curve. One clue, one dial, one left-or-right guess. The clue rules take a round to settle, but anyone can play after watching one turn, so it sits with UNO and Jenga at 1.
Luck & skill. The card and the target's position are random, but a well-chosen clue and a team that knows each other well score far more often.
Interaction. Every guess is a team discussion, and the other team listens in to call left or right.
Set-up. Lift the device into the slot in the box tray, put the score markers at the start, split into teams and you're ready. CMYK and reviewers both say it sets up in seconds.
Reading. Each card has two short English words or phrases. Everything else is spoken.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
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Is Wavelength right for you?
Great if
- Big groups at a family get-together or Diwali party: split into two teams, and latecomers can join mid-game
- Mixed-language tables: each card has only a couple of English words, and clues can be given in any language
- Friends and cousins who know each other well, since the fun is guessing how your own people think
- A party game that gets everyone talking with very little reading and almost no rules
Skip it if
- You mostly play as two or three: there is a cooperative mode, but the game is at its best with two teams
- Your group is quiet or doesn't enjoy friendly debate; turns with no discussion fall flat
- Your players are mostly under 14; younger children can find it hard to give clues for abstract scales
A place on the honours list
Good company to be in.
Recognition from beyond our table.
Årets Spill (Norway's game of the year awards), Best Party Game, 2022 (Winner)
American Tabletop Awards, Casual Games, 2020 (Recommended)
How Wavelength plays
The box is the board. A plastic device sits in a tray inside it: a screen that slides open and shut, a target wheel hidden underneath, and a big red dial on top. Split into two teams of roughly equal size. The team going first starts on 0 points and the other team on 1.
- Time to teach: about 5 minutes.
- Reading and language: Each card shows two short English words or phrases, such as hot and cold, so there is very little to read. Clues and team discussion are spoken, so your group can play in Hindi, Tamil or any mix of languages everyone shares. The rulebook is in English only.
Wavelength Board Game - How to Play · Meeple University
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A turn, step by step
- 1Clue
The Psychic secretly sees where the target sits on a scale between two opposites and gives one clue for that spot.
- 2Guess
Their team talks it over and turns the dial; the other team then calls whether the target is to the left or the right.
- 3Score
Open the screen: 4, 3 or 2 points for landing in the target's bands, and 1 point to the other team for a correct left-or-right call.
- 4Win
Teams alternate, with a new Psychic each turn, and the first team to 10 points wins.
The full explanation: how a game of Wavelength goes
On your team's turn, one player is the Psychic. With the screen shut, they draw a card, choose one of its sides (say, hot to cold), spin the wheel, and then peek at where the target has landed. They give one clue that sits at that point on the scale, such as a food or a place that feels just a bit hot. Then the screen closes and the Psychic says nothing more.
The Psychic's team talks it over and turns the dial to their guess. The other team then calls whether the real target is to the left or the right of the dial. Open the screen: the target has a 4-point bullseye with 3-point and 2-point bands either side. The other team gets 1 point for a correct left-or-right call, unless the bullseye was hit.
Teams take turns, with a new Psychic each time, and the first team to 10 points wins. A team that scores a bullseye but is still behind takes another turn straight away. Clue rules: one idea only, no numbers, and no words from the card.
For 2 to 5 players there is a cooperative mode: everyone plays as one team, skips the left-or-right guess and works through a short deck of cards, trying for the highest score.
What's in the box
- 1The Wavelength device
a plastic dial with a sliding screen and a spinning target wheel; it doubles as the scoreboard - 84Spectrum cards
double-sided, each side showing a pair of opposites such as hot and cold; some form a trickier 'advanced' set - 3Scoring tokens
a score marker for each team and a marker for the left-or-right guess - 1Plastic tray
holds the device in the middle of the box during play - 1Rulebook
English, with the cooperative mode for 2 to 5
Box: 27 × 26.8 × 7.6 cm, 1.1 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
Contents are from Asmodee Canada's 'What's in the box' list for the English edition. The rules describe the three tokens as a Left Brain and a Right Brain score marker plus a guessing token. There is only one English edition, so the box sold in India should match.
Where to buy
Paid link · We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Reviewers like Wavelength because it gets a whole room talking with almost no rules: one clue, one dial and a lot of friendly arguing. They praise the chunky device, which is the whole board and sets up in seconds, and point out that the same card plays differently every time because the target moves. It copes well with big groups, and people can join halfway through. The usual caveats are that the fun depends on your group, quiet turns fall flat, and clues are too easy when the target lands near either end of the scale.
What people love
- Rules simple enough that anyone can join in after one turn
- The chunky dial device: it's the whole board, and setting up takes seconds
- Lasting replay value: the target moves each time, so a card never plays the same way twice
- It handles big groups and uneven teams, and people can join midway
Common complaints
- The fun depends heavily on the group; a turn with no discussion falls flat
- When the target lands near one end of the scale, the clue is too easy
- The 'advanced' cards don't feel very different from the normal ones
Based on 4 reviews and discussions
- Review Dan Blum: Review of Wavelength (Dan Blum, with comments from Joe Huber, Dale Yu and James Nathan, December 2019) · The Opinionated Gamers
- Review Wavelength (Board's Eye View, December 2022) · Board's Eye View
- Review Wavelength is a great formula for a party guessing game with minimal fuss (Seamus Byrne, July 2025) · Byteside
- Reference Wavelength (game) (Wikipedia, read 14 October 2026) · Wikipedia
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Read your teammates' minds with one clue and a big red dial | A different fit Another party game about guessing how everyone else thinks, for up to 20 players | A different fit The other great team clue game; Wavelength is about where something sits on a scale rather than which word fits | A different fit Another mind-reading party game from Wolfgang Warsch, quieter and fully cooperative |
| Players | 2–12 | 4–20 | 2–8 | 2–4 |
| Best with | 6-12 | 6-12 | 6-8 | 3-4 |
| Play time | 30–45 min | 20–30 min | 15 min | 15–25 min |
| Age | 14+ | 10+ | 14+ | 8+ |
| Rules | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Imported | Imported | Imported | Imported |
| On this page | Explore Herd Mentality | Explore Codenames | Explore The Mind |
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Pass secret codes to your team before the rivals crack them
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Give a clue for a dreamlike picture, but not too obvious
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Ten yes-or-no questions to name the hidden animal.
Questions people ask about Wavelength
Is Wavelength available in India?
Yes, as an imported game. There is no Indian edition, so copies sold here are CMYK's American English box (item WAV01). Our Check price on Amazon.in button goes to that box.
Is Palm Court Wavelength the same as CMYK Wavelength?
Yes. Palm Court was the publisher's name when Wavelength came out in 2019, and the company now calls itself CMYK. You may see either name on boxes and listings; the game inside is the same.
Can 2 or 3 people play Wavelength?
Yes, using the cooperative mode in the rulebook: everyone plays as one team and works through a short deck of cards to score as high as possible. The game is at its best with four or more players split into two teams, and the box goes up to 12.
Can we play Wavelength in Hindi?
The cards are in English, but each side shows just two words or short phrases, such as hot and cold. Clues and discussion are spoken, so your group can use Hindi or any mix of languages, as long as everyone understands the card.
Is there a Wavelength app?
Yes. CMYK released a free phone version for iPhone and Android in 2022. The board game, with its physical dial, is still the way to play around one table with a big group.
Game facts
- Designed by
- Alex Hague, Justin Vickers, Wolfgang Warsch
- Publisher
- CMYK (called Palm Court when the game launched), USA
- First published
- 2019
- Players
- 2–12
- Barcode
- 860001981704
- Language
- Little reading – Each card shows two short English words or phrases, such as hot and cold, so there is very little to read. Clues and team discussion are spoken, so your group can play in Hindi, Tamil or any mix of languages everyone shares. The rulebook is in English only.
- Box size and weight
- 27 × 26.8 × 7.6 cm, 1.1 kg
- Awards
- Årets Spill (Norway's game of the year awards), Best Party Game, 2022 (Winner); American Tabletop Awards, Casual Games, 2020 (Recommended)
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.
- Wavelength – official site (CMYK)
- CMYK store – Wavelength (product page and product data: barcode, weight)
- Asmodee Canada – Wavelength (contents and how-to-play video)
- Asmodee UK – Wavelength, item WAV01 (barcode, box size, weight)
- Asmodee Canada shop – Wavelength (EN), item PCOWAV01EN
- Wavelength rules (Palm Court rules sheet, copy hosted by Official Game Rules)
- Wavelength (game) – Wikipedia
- Board Games India – Wavelength
- Gameistry – Wavelength