🎡 Overview

Wheel of Fortune is a word-puzzle game. Players take turns spinning the wheel to earn money and guess letters to reveal a hidden phrase. The player who solves the puzzle keeps all the money they earned that round!

▶️ Starting a Game

• The first person to join a room is the host — look for the 👑 badge. Everyone else just needs to enter a name and click Come On Down!
• At least 2 players must join before the host's Start the Game! button in the Lobby becomes clickable. There's no fixed maximum — invite as many friends as you like.
• Only the host can click Start. Clicking it opens Category Voting for everyone; once the host clicks Close voting & start, the first Toss-Up begins automatically.
• The host also picks how many main rounds to play (1–4, default 3) in ⚙️ Settings before starting.
• If nothing seems to be happening, check whether you're waiting on the host — only the host can start the game and close category voting.

🗳️ Category Voting

• Every player gets 5 votes, one per category, and can change their mind while voting is open.
• You can also suggest your own category name if you don't see one you like.
• The host decides when voting closes — the highest-voted categories fill the puzzle lineup for the game.

👥 Rejoining & Locked Rooms

• If you close your tab or refresh, just reopen the same room link — you're placed right back into the game automatically.
• Joining from a new device or after clearing your browser data? Tap "That's me" next to your name on the join screen to ask the host to let you back into your seat (this prevents someone else from stealing your spot and your score).
• A host can lock a room with a password (👑 Host Controls). If a room is locked, you'll need that password to join or to reclaim your seat.

🔔 Toss-Up

• Before each main round, a Toss-Up puzzle reveals letters one at a time automatically.
• Press BUZZ IN as soon as you think you know the answer, then type it.
• A correct answer wins the toss-up prize ($1,000 for Toss-Up #1, $2,000 for #2, $3,000 for #3, and $1,000 again for a 4th) and gives you the first turn of that round.
• A wrong answer disqualifies you for the rest of that toss-up — other players can keep buzzing in.

🎰 Your Turn

• Spin — Available at the start of your turn and after a correct guess (or a bought vowel). Spin the wheel to land on a dollar amount, then guess a consonant. Each occurrence of that letter in the puzzle earns you that dollar amount.
• Buy a Vowel — Spend $250 to reveal all occurrences of a vowel (A, E, I, O, U). Available at the start of your turn and after a correct guess if you have at least $250 — not after a dollar spin, until you call the consonant. An absent vowel costs $250 and ends your turn.
• Solve — At any time on your turn, attempt to solve the full puzzle by typing the answer. A correct solve wins the round! A wrong solve ends your turn but does not wipe your round earnings.
• A decision timer runs before spinning, while picking letters, and while solving. The default is 45 seconds; the host can choose 30–120 seconds before starting. Completed actions reset it; opening a form does not. Wheel animation time is excluded. At zero, your turn passes.

⚠️ Wheel Wedges

• Bankrupt — You lose all money you've earned this round and your turn ends.
• Lose a Turn — Your turn passes to the next player with no penalty to your bank.
• Free Play — Guess any letter (consonant or vowel) for free. Consonants still earn the $500 face value; one wrong letter or solve is protected. After that action, ordinary rules resume.

💰 Money Rules

• Only the player who solves the puzzle keeps their round earnings. All other players lose their round earnings for that round — even if they guessed many correct letters.
• $1,000 minimum: If the solver's round earnings are less than $1,000, they are automatically bumped up to $1,000 before being added to their overall bank.
• Round earnings are added to your overall bank once you solve.
• Bankrupt wipes only your round earnings — your overall bank total from previous rounds and toss-ups is never affected.
• Consolation: anyone who finishes with $0 and never solved a puzzle receives $1,000 so they are not left at zero.

⚡ Speed Round

• After the last main round, everyone plays one fast-paced Speed Round together on a single puzzle.
• The wheel spins once for the whole round to set a base dollar value (non-value wedges are automatically re-spun until a dollar amount lands) — every correct consonant is worth that amount for the rest of the round.
• Taking turns in order, each player keeps calling letters until they miss. A wrong consonant ends your turn; vowels are free and never end your turn. Letter-calling has a 45-second timer; attempting to solve has a 15-second timer.
• Whoever solves first keeps the money they earned calling letters on their turn; add it to your total.

🤝 Tiebreaker

• If two or more players are tied for the most money after the Speed Round, they face off in a Tiebreaker Toss-Up (everyone else just watches).
• It plays exactly like a normal Toss-Up. The winner earns $1,000 and moves on to the Bonus Round.
• No tie? This step is skipped and the top scorer heads straight to the Bonus Round.

🌟 Bonus Round

• The player with the most money after the Speed Round (and Tiebreaker, if needed) plays the Bonus Round solo while everyone else watches.
• The bonus puzzle starts with R, S, T, L, N, E already revealed.
• The bonus player picks 3 additional consonants and 1 additional vowel.
• Those letters are revealed, then the player has 15 seconds to solve the puzzle.
• A correct solve wins a prize from the bonus envelope (worth $500 – $25,000)!
• If the minimum prize is less than $1,000, it is bumped up to $1,000.

🎲 How the question pool works

• Questions are drawn from a shared pool. Once a question has been used in this room, it will not come up again in this room — so a long session keeps serving fresh material.
• The pool is tracked per room. Starting a game in a different room gives you the full pool again, including everything already used here.
• The host can wipe this room's used-question list from 👑 Host Controls → Question Pool, which makes every question available in this room again. That cannot be undone.