Guide
The Timer — the clue-based quiz against the clock
The Timer is Genioz's clue mode, a free online trivia game for 2 to 8 players. The idea: something to guess — a person, a place, a work, an animal… — described by clues revealed one by one, from the most obscure to the most obvious. The earlier you lock in your answer, the bigger the bonus; but a wrong answer costs your wager. The whole mode comes down to one question of nerve: are you sure enough to lock in NOW, or will you wait for that one extra clue everyone else gets too?
How does a round of The Timer unfold?
1. The round opens with a first, deliberately vague clue. Every 6 seconds a new clue drops — 5 clues over 30 seconds, more and more telling.
2. At any moment, you can type your answer, pick your wager (1 to 3 tokens) and LOCK IT IN. Once locked, there's no going back — and the round feed shows who locked at which clue, which adds a delicious kind of pressure.
3. When time runs out (or everyone has locked in), the reveal: the answer, everyone's locks, and the token count.
How do you earn tokens in The Timer?
Right answer: you win your wager + 1 bonus token for every clue still hidden at the moment you locked in. Locking at the 1st clue (4 clues remaining) pays wager +4; at the last one, just your wager. Wrong answer: your wager is gone.
Approximate spelling is fine: the game compares answers ignoring accents, capitalization and leading articles — “the mona lisa” counts for “The Mona Lisa”.
Three nerves-of-steel strategies
Lock on strong intuition, not on certainty: waiting to be 100% sure means locking at the last clue — the one where everyone finds it. The bonus is won in the discomfort zone.
Scale your wager to the clue: locking early with a 1-token wager is an almost free shot; locking late with a 3-token wager makes no sense — the bonus has already melted.
Use the lock feed: if two players lock at the 2nd clue, the obvious is hiding somewhere — reread the clues with that in mind before the next one drops.
Frequently asked questions
Can you change your answer after locking in?
No — locking in is final, that's the heart of the mode. Until you lock, you can edit your answer freely.
Does spelling have to be exact?
No: the comparison ignores accents, case, punctuation and a leading article. “les miserables” is accepted for “Les Misérables”. The answer itself has to be right though — not a distant synonym.
What happens if I never lock in?
You lose nothing — but you win nothing either, and the round feed will show it. In The Timer, boldness only costs a small wager: lock it in.