Multiplayer Shiritori

Multiplayer Shiritori

Multiplayer Shiritori is the bot's primary game mode, played in a shared text channel where players take turns extending a word chain.

Starting a Game

A server member with the Manage Messages permission, or the bot owner, can start a game with /start_shiritori [#channel]. The bot posts the rules and generates a random starting word automatically. Only one game may be active per channel at a time.

To prevent abuse, a server is temporarily blocked from starting new games if /start_shiritori is used 5 times and /end_shiritori is used 4 times within a rolling 15-minute window. The resulting block lasts 2 hours.

Rules

1. The next word must begin with the final letter of the previous word.
2. Repeating a previously used word ends the game immediately.
3. Playing twice in a row is not allowed; another player must take a turn before the same player can play again.
4. Submitted words are checked against the bot's dictionary. /check can confirm whether a word is valid before it is played.

According to the bot's own in-game rules message for this mode, allowed word types are English words, hyphenated compounds, acronyms, and common names. Unique proper nouns and words containing numbers or symbols other than the hyphen and apostrophe are not allowed. The dictionary also contains words related to political topics, sexual orientation, and internet subculture slang; players are responsible for the words they choose to play within their own server's rules.

Milestones and Special Messages

Every 100 turns, the bot posts "Congrats we at turn {number} 🎉", with the actual turn count filled in (for example, at turn 100, turn 200, and so on).

At turn 69, the bot posts "Nice 😏" for any word other than "sixty-nine". If the word played at turn 69 is literally "sixty-nine", it instead posts "I was thinking that too 😏".

At turn 420, the source code contains a similar check intended to react differently if the word played is "weed," "four-twenty," "baked," "blazed," "lit," "high," or "stoned," in which case it would post "You got some 🌿?" However, the code checks equality against the entire set as a single unit rather than checking whether the played word is a member of it, a comparison that can never evaluate as true. In practice, turn 420 always displays the fallback message, "Live in the moment. 🌿", regardless of the word played.

AI Opponents

An AI opponent can be added with /invite_ai, or a specific personality can be summoned using a text command such as !noob or !assassin. An AI opponent is automatically removed after a period of inactivity. Personality behavior, summon success rates, and cooldowns are documented on the main bot page.

Ending a Game

A game ends immediately if a repeated word is played, or if it is manually ended with /end_shiritori. Ending a game displays a summary of the match's statistics. Unless the game was ended by an admin, a new game starts automatically in the same channel after a 2-minute cooldown.

Etiquette

There is no anti-cheat system, and consulting outside references is not blocked, though relying on one's own vocabulary is considered part of the spirit of the game. !status displays the current game's progress, including words played, average word length, and the next required letter. Players should use discretion with obscure or explicit words in line with their server's own rules.