By Michael Szerencsy

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Switchback turns your ten words into one chain. Whatever letter your word ends on, your next word has to start with it. Every lock is a word for this round and a decision about the next one, which makes it the Uncharted rule that rewards planning more than any other.

The rule

Switchback is one of the five Uncharted rules, which change what you may play in an Outlier Live game. Round 1 is free. From round 2, your word must start with the last letter of the word you locked in the round before. The line above the input tells you which letter you need.

Six words in a chain, one per round: LANTERN, NOMAD, DRIZZLE, EMBARK, KESTREL, LOCUST. Each word starts with the last letter of the word before it. — Each word hands its last letter to the next.

The chain is yours alone. It follows the word YOU locked, not anyone else's.

What makes it tricky

Difficulty: ◆◆◆◆◆ Expert, 5th of 6 from easiest to hardest. The letter you need changes every round, and 81% of the words players normally lock don't fit the chain.

Every lock decides where your next word has to start. A great word that ends on an awkward letter can leave you with nothing good next round.

So you're always thinking one move ahead, like a chess player: is this the best word, and is it the best word to end on? Missing a round or hitting a dead end gives you a free start, but it costs you a round to get it.

How it compares with the other five: Uncharted, all six.

Free starts

Two things break the chain in your favour. If you didn't lock a word last round, you get a free start: any word will do. And if no word on the board starts with the letter you need, that's a dead end, and you get a free start too. On a Vanishing board, that's checked against the letters still standing.

Step by step

Pick itOpen Outlier Live and start a game. Under Uncharted, below the board types, choose Switchback. Or join a room someone else opened on it.
Read the cardIn the waiting room a card explains the rule. It opens by itself the first time; after that, tap the Switchback chip at the top whenever you want it.
Round 1 is freePlay any word. Its last letter becomes your starting letter for round 2.
Follow your letterFrom round 2, the line above your input and the box you type into both say which letter to start with. The round card says it too.
If a word is refusedA word with the wrong first letter is refused with a message naming the letter you need and the word it came from, plus a How it works link.
Free startsMissed a round, or ended on a letter nothing on the board starts with? You get a free start, and the line above your input says so.

Here's a chain on a sample board.

Round 1: SOLVENT, ending in T. — Step 1. Any word to start.

THROAT, TORCH and HAMLET, each starting with the last letter of the one before. — Step 2. Each word starts where the last one ended.

TADPOLE ends in E, which leaves plenty of options; MOLTEN is refused because it doesn't start with T. — Step 3. Check where your last letter leaves you.

How to play Switchback well

Look one word aheadBefore you lock, check what your last letter leaves you. A rare word that ends on a letter with nothing good behind it can cost you the next round.

Easy endings are safeE, S, T and R start a lot of words. Ending on one keeps your options wide.

Hard endings can be a weaponEnding on a letter no word on the board starts with buys you a free start. It's worth knowing which letters those are in round 1.

Burned words narrow the chainYour required letter doesn't care what the room has played. If the good words starting with it are gone, you'll have to dig.

Where you'll find it

Switchback is an Uncharted rule in Outlier Live. It rides on whichever board type the game is dealt, turns up in open Live rooms, and any host can choose it under Uncharted when starting a game. Rematches keep it. It never appears in Outlier Live Daily, and Uncharted games don't move your Live rating. It's completely optional: regular Live games haven't changed.

The first time you meet Switchback, a card explains the rule before round 1. Tap the Switchback chip at the top of the waiting room to see it again. The FAQ has every Uncharted rule, and the other Uncharted guides are linked from it.

Start a Switchback game →

One tap opens a room with Switchback on. Send friends the link to join.

Why we built them: Uncharted, from the founder. The rest of Uncharted:

Gold RushFirst to lock a word keeps it. Later locks of the same word score zero.KeystoneEvery word must use the stone.AscentThe climb gets steeper: 4+ letters, then 5+, 6+, 7+, 8+.LightningThe first lock lights a 10-second fuse for everyone else.SinkholeLike Vanishing, but the ground gives way where it hurts.