FLAMES Game

Write both names, one above the other. Take the first letter of the first name and look for the same letter in the second name. If it is there, cross out both and move on to the next letter. Each letter can cancel only one partner, so two a’s against one a cross out one pair and leave an a standing. Ignore spaces, and treat capitals and small letters as the same letter.

Now count every letter that is not crossed out, in both names together. Call that number N. Write F L A M E S, start at F and count N letters, going back to F after S. Cross out the letter you land on. Start counting again from the letter after it, skipping any letter already crossed out, and cross out where you land. Keep going until one letter is left.

ROMEO and JULIET share one letter, E. Cross out one E in each name and you are left with R, O, M, O and J, U, L, I, T: nine letters. Count nine round FLAMES from F: F, L, A, M, E, S, F, L, A. The ninth letter is A, so A goes. Count nine again from M and you land on F. From L you land on L. From M you land on S. Then, with only M and E left, counting from M lands on M. E is the last letter standing, so FLAMES says Romeo and Juliet are Enemies, which their families would have agreed with. Press Watch Romeo + Juliet above to see it step by step.

Because FLAMES travels by word of mouth, the rules drift. Some people cross out every copy of a shared letter instead of one for one, which usually leaves a smaller number. Some restart the count from F every round instead of carrying on from the next letter. Most ignore spaces and play first names; others use full names with last names, which changes the count completely. A few even treat capital and small letters as different. The words drift too: L can be Love, A can be Adore or Affection, and S is sometimes Sister.

This game uses the most common rules: letters only, capitals and small letters the same, one for one, and counting on from the next letter. The chart under the game gives the result for every count from 1 to 30, so you can check a paper game against it.

A FLAMES calculator follows the paper rules and lands on one of six words, so it can tell you Enemies just as easily as Marriage. A love calculator turns two names into a percentage instead. If you want a number, the Love Tester reads two names as a love meter and lets you boost the score with a five-second squeeze. For another notebook classic that decides your whole future, play MASH.

FLAMES is luck: a nickname or a last name changes everything, and that is the fun of it. But if you keep typing the same name, that tells you something the letters cannot. The Love Test asks twelve questions about one person and tells you what kind of love it is, and the Do They Like Me quiz looks at the signs from their side. If the feeling is complicated, Lovon is an AI voice companion app you can talk it through with out loud, at any hour.