What is Semantris?
Semantris is a word association game where an AI is the judge. You see a list or stack of words, some highlighted as targets, and you type any word you think is related. The game ranks every word on screen by how close it is in meaning to what you typed. If a target lands near the top, it clears and you score. The trick is finding clues that point to one word and not its neighbours.
Google Research released it in April 2018 alongside Talk to Books, as a way to show off its semantic AI. It runs on the kind of model described in Google's Universal Sentence Encoder paper, which understands meaning rather than spelling. There are two modes: Arcade is a race against a rising list, and Blocks is a slower, Tetris-like mode where you clear coloured blocks by matching words.
What You Can Do
- Type any related word and let the AI rank the board
- Play Arcade mode, a fast race against time
- Play Blocks mode, a slower puzzle with stacked coloured blocks
- Clear several words with one well-chosen clue
- See how an AI understands word meaning
How to Play Semantris
- Open Semantris and choose Arcade or Blocks.
- Look at the highlighted target word.
- Type a word you associate with it and press Enter.
- Watch the ranking and keep clearing words before the board fills.
Is Semantris Free?
Semantris is a free Google Research demo with no login, no ads and no paid features.
Who Will Enjoy It?
- Word game fans who like Codenames-style clues
- People curious about how AI understands language
- Students building vocabulary
- Anyone wanting a quick brain teaser
Websites Like Semantris
- Codenames Online: The human version of association clues, played with friends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Semantris free?
Yes. It is a free Google Research demo with no account.
What is the difference between Arcade and Blocks?
Arcade is timed and fast. Blocks is untimed and more like a puzzle game.
How does Semantris know which words are related?
It uses a Google language model that measures how similar words are in meaning.