What is Esm-Famil?
Esm-Famil (“Name, Surname”) is Iran’s classic word game, similar to Scattergories: a letter is announced and every player has to find a word starting with it for each category — name, surname, city, country, food, animal, object, colour and more. In Persian Spy everyone plays on their own phone and the game server runs everything: the letter, the clock, the Stop and the scores.
Create a room and invite friends
- Type a nickname and tap “Create room”. You get a 5-digit code.
- Send the code or the invite link. The link opens the room straight in the app if it is installed, or shows the download page if not.
- You need at least 2 players. The host picks the settings and starts.
Joining a friend’s room is always free. Nobody online? Play offline against bots. Voice chat in online rooms is free too.
Categories and settings
8 base categories (free): name, surname, city, country, food, animal, object, colour.
12 Pro categories: fruit, flower, job, car, sport, film, celebrity, clothing, body part, instrument, drink, bird.
- Defaults: 5 rounds, 90 seconds per round, up to 6 players.
- Pro: rooms up to 12, all 20 categories, more rounds, custom timers (60–180 s), hard letters and the “only answer” bonus. You can also make a single game Pro by watching one ad.
- The host chooses Persian or English.
How a round works
- Random letter: the server draws a letter. No letter repeats in a game until all have been used.
- Write answers: each answer must start with the letter and be at least 2 characters long. Drafts are saved continuously, so a dropped connection loses nothing.
- Stop! Once every field is validly filled, the Stop button unlocks. When someone stops, everybody else has 5 seconds to finish. If the round timer runs out with no Stop, the round locks immediately.
- Judging: dictionary words are accepted automatically. Unknown answers are checked by AI, then the other players vote.
- Scoreboard: points are calculated per category and the host taps “Next round”. After the last round the final ranking is shown.
Smart judging and voting
- Each unknown answer is checked once by AI and its opinion is shown next to the answer.
- Players’ votes outrank the AI: the majority decides. On a tie or with no votes, the AI’s call stands.
- A word approved in two different games joins the dictionary, so the game gets smarter every day.
Esm-Famil scoring
| Answer | Points |
|---|---|
| Correct and unique | 10 |
| Correct but the same as someone else’s | 5 |
| Wrong or empty | 0 |
| “Only answer”: you are the only one with a valid answer (optional) | 20 |
| False stop: the stopper has 2 or more answers rejected | −10 |
Fair play
Leave the app for more than 3 seconds while answers are open (say, to search) and you score zero for that round — and everyone is told. A dropped connection is not penalised: your seat is held for 60 seconds and your saved draft counts.
Offline with bots
Play against 1–2 bots (Pro: up to 5) at three levels: easy, normal and hard. Hard bots write faster, find more words and only press Stop once they have filled every field.
Tips to win
- Fill the hard categories first; names and colours come quickly.
- Less common answers earn the full 10 points; famous ones are likely duplicates worth 5.
- Double-check before you stop — a false stop costs 10 points.
