Hooky

Hooky drops you into the shoes of a homeroom teacher on a chaotic morning before school starts. Out of the 26 kids who should be in class, three have decided to play hooky. Your mission is to pinpoint those three rascals using only five‑letter words. Each student is represented by a letter of the alphabet, and at the start everyone receives a handful of cards that tell you which letters are definitely *not* missing. From there you interrogate your fellow teachers: you name a five‑letter word and the opponent replies with a number indicating how many of those letters they hold, without revealing which ones. That numeric clue, combined with what you already know, helps you eliminate possibilities. As more tardy kids wander onto the playground, new cards appear in players' hands, expanding the pool of information. Correct guesses—identifying a Hooky card or correctly naming another player's hand—earn you points. After 45‑60 minutes, the player with the most points wins. With a light weight of 2.6/5, Hooky is friendly to newcomers to deduction games yet still offers enough depth for genre fans. A dash of push‑your‑luck lets you gamble on bolder questions for extra points, at the risk of handing useful data to opponents. The result is a breezy, laugh‑filled "aha!" experience that shines with 3‑5 players.