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Sixteen blank luggage tags on a curator's worktable, tied in groups with red, blue, yellow and purple thread, among a fossil, a telescope, a teapot and a toy train

Common Thread

Word games

By Priyanka Ghosh · 118 plays

Sort sixteen exhibit tags into four hidden groups of four in a curator’s workshop. Watch for red herrings, read the curator’s notes, play 169 exhibits in eight rooms and a new daily exhibit.

  • desktop
  • mobile
  • tablet
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About the game

I spend my day job finding what doesn't belong, so I made a game about it. Sixteen tags, four groups, and a curator who is quietly judging you. Common Thread is a grouping puzzle set on a curator’s walnut workbench. Sixteen manila exhibit tags hide four groups of four. Tap four tags you think belong together and a red thread ties them up. Submit, and if you are right they become an exhibit band with its icon and a one-line curator’s note explaining the link. Every exhibit has four tiers, from plain sight to the curator’s riddle, which is usually wordplay: hidden words, sound-alikes and words that go before another word. Each tier has its own shape and pattern as well as its colour. Red herrings are everywhere: some tags seem to fit two groups, but only one grouping works. You may make four mistakes; each one cracks a wax seal. Three of four right? You are told you are one away. Two hints per exhibit name the easiest group still hidden and mark one of its tags. Finish with no mistakes or hints for three stars. There are 169 original exhibits in eight museum rooms, from the Entrance hall to the Observatory, growing from gentle to devious. A new daily exhibit arrives every day, with a streak and an archive of the last 30 days.

How to play

Tap or click four tags you think share a link, then press Submit. A correct group becomes a band with its tier, icon and note; a wrong one cracks one of four wax seals, and three of four right says one away. Tap a picked tag again to put it back, or Clear. Shuffle moves the tags around. Hint (two per exhibit) names a group and marks one of its tags. Keyboard: arrows move, Space picks, Enter submits four, S shuffle, C clear, H hint, M sound, Escape pauses.

Devices
desktop, mobile, tablet
Orientation
any

Content notes

No violence, text chat, ads or purchases. All puzzles are family-friendly. Gentle sound effects that can be turned off, and motion that can be reduced in settings.

Screenshots

The Common Thread title screen: hanging exhibit tags on a red thread above the logo, Continue and menu buttons, and today’s exhibit card with its date, tier badges, an 8 day streak and stats for exhibits, stars and roomsExhibit 156, a devious one: a hint names Sea mammals and marks one tag with a magnifier, while Envelope, Jar, Deal and the red herring Seal are tied by a red thread and judged one away, cracking a wax sealThe results card for a flawless exhibit 140: three gold stars and all four groups, Shoes, Things you flip, Breads and Words before board, each with its tier badge, icon, items and the curator’s noteThe collection: 169 exhibits in eight museum rooms such as the Map room and Garden court, each exhibit with its difficulty and stars, the next one marked and later rooms locked until more exhibits are solvedThe daily archive: a calendar of the last 30 daily exhibits with stars for each one solved, pins on days solved on the day, today’s exhibit highlighted and an 8 day streakCommon Thread on a phone in portrait: wax seals and a hint button on top, a solved group band with its icon and note, a 4 by 3 grid of large exhibit tags with two picked and threaded, and Shuffle, Clear and Submit

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