Guide
Picture puzzle: a keyword guessing game
The picture puzzle is a game teachers often build in PowerPoint: answer correctly to flip a tile, and guess the keyword hidden behind the tiles to win. In Bút Nghiên, you just enter the keyword and add a picture if you like. Bút Nghiên flips tiles when the class answers well, takes guesses from students' phones and adds the bonus points.
Published October 14, 2026 · Last updated October 15, 2026
How to play
- Students answer multiple-choice questions as usual.
- In Teacher-paced games: after each question, if the share of students who answered correctly reaches the level you set (60% by default), a tile is flipped. The projector clearly shows whether a tile was opened this time.
- In Student-paced games: each time the class collects the number of correct answers you set, a tile is flipped. If you leave it on “Auto”, Bút Nghiên works out the number so the tiles open evenly over the whole game.
- Students who have answered at least one question can tap the puzzle button on their phone to guess the keyword at any time.
- The first correct guess earns a 1000-point bonus, the second 600, the third 400, and everyone after that 200.
How to set it up
- Create a game as usual. Under “Format”, choose “Individual” or “Team play”.
- Turn on “Picture puzzle” and enter the “Keyword”: 1 to 40 characters, only letters, digits, spaces and hyphens, with at least 2 letters. Without an image, the keyword can have up to 30 letters.
- For a picture to guess, add a “Mystery image (optional)”: a PNG or JPEG image up to 5 MB, then choose the number of “Rows” and “Columns” (2 to 6, 3 rows × 4 columns by default). Without an image, each letter of the keyword is one tile.
- Choose the “Guesses per student” (1 to 10, 3 by default). Leave “Accept typing without accents” on if students type on phones that don't have a Vietnamese keyboard.
- Adjust when tiles open: “Open 1 tile when the correct rate reaches” (30% to 100%) for Teacher-paced games, or “Correct answers to open 1 tile” for Student-paced games.
- Students must type the keyword's letters correctly. For Vietnamese words that can be spelled with i or y, like “Mĩ” and “Mỹ”, choose the spelling your class is used to. Where the tone mark sits, as in the Vietnamese spellings “hoà” and “hòa”, doesn't matter.
- Picture puzzle can't be turned on together with Golden Bell.
During the game
- The projector shows the puzzle board, how many students have guessed correctly and how many wrong guesses there have been. Wrong guesses are never shown, so nobody can copy a guess from the screen.
- When someone guesses correctly, the projector shows their name and the order in which they solved it. The keyword stays hidden so others can keep guessing.
- Click “Reveal keyword” to open all the tiles and show the whole class the keyword. After that, no one can guess anymore.
- If you click “End” before revealing it, the projector opens all the tiles and shows the keyword automatically before the award ceremony.
- “Answer at least one question to guess the keyword” → the student needs to answer a question first.
- “Slow down a little, then guess again.” → too many wrong guesses in a short time. After each wrong guess, there's a 3-second wait.
- “You’re out of guesses.” → the student has used up all their guesses.
- “The keyword has been revealed, so no more guesses.”
- Click “Lock room” after starting so nobody can join again under a new name just to get more guesses.
Tips for choosing a keyword
Choose a keyword linked to the lesson: the name of a character, a concept, a place or an event. For younger classes, use a picture and a short keyword of one or two words. Older classes can handle longer keywords and a higher tile-opening level to make the game more exciting.
Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need to make a PowerPoint? | No. Everything runs in the browser: the teacher's projector screen and the students' phones. |
| Does a correct guess give away the keyword? | No. Only that student knows they're right; the projector only shows the names of students who solved it. |
| Does typing without accents count as correct? | Yes, if you leave “Accept typing without accents” on. For example, typing “ha noi” is still correct for the Vietnamese keyword “Hà Nội”. |