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How to play

Antakshari Rules

Antakshari is a singing game with one rule and a great many arguments. The rule is that your song must begin with the letter the previous song ended on. Almost everything else is house convention.

The basic rules

1. Split into two or more teams.
2. The first team sings a few lines of any song.
3. Take the last akshar — the final sounded syllable — of the lines they sang.
4. The next team must sing a song starting with that letter.
5. A team that can't produce one within the agreed time loses its turn.
6. Play to an agreed number of songs, or until everyone is hoarse.

Traditionally you sing enough of the song to be recognisable — usually a full antara or at least a couple of lines. "Singing two words" is the most common source of complaint.

The arguments, and how to settle them

"That song was already sung"

By far the most frequent dispute, and unresolvable by memory once you're forty songs in. The only real fix is writing them down, which nobody does. Keep the list on a phone and the question stops coming up.

"That's not the letter it ended on"

Genuinely ambiguous — it depends where the singer chose to stop. The usual convention is that the singing team declares the ending letter, and the other team may object only if it clearly isn't in the line just sung. Deciding this up front prevents most trouble.

Which letters are allowed

Some aksharas have almost no songs behind them. Most groups quietly ban the impossible ones. If you play in English instead, Q, X and Z usually go the same way.

Common variations

• Timed: 30 to 60 seconds to start singing. Keeps a big group moving.
• Genre locked: only film songs, only pre-2000, only a single music director.
• Sudden death: no timer at all until the score is level, then a clock appears.
• No repeats across the evening — the strict version, and the one that most needs a list.

Play it with the bookkeeping handled

The letter, the score, the clock and the list of songs already used all live on the phone, so the room can argue about singing rather than about admin.

Play AntakshariFree · 2–4 teams · Hindi or English letters

Every game here is free, runs in a browser, and needs no app or sign-up. One person creates a game, shares the link, everyone plays on their own phone.