4 Pics 1 Word: Bible puzzles in emoji

4 Pics 1 Word is the most playful game on Brethreign. Each puzzle is a row of four emoji that together hint at a Bible story, character, miracle or parable. You work out what they’re pointing to and pick the answer from four choices. It’s quick, it’s fun, and children often beat the adults.

Start a round

Open the Games page at /games and tap 4 Pics 1 Word. The start screen asks “What story is this?” Tap ▶ Start puzzles.

How a round works

A round is five puzzles.

1. Look at the four emoji. Read them together, not one at a time.
2. Think of the story. What happens in the Bible that brings those four things together?
3. Pick the answer. There are four choices and one is right.
4. See the answer with a short note, then tap Next.

How to read the clues

Take the puzzle in the picture above: 🛳️ 🌊 🐦 🌈. A ship, a wave, a bird and a rainbow. Put together, they point to Noah’s Ark: the ark on the flood waters, the dove sent out to find dry land, and the rainbow of God’s promise.

Some ways in:

• Find the strangest emoji. A lion, a whale or a donkey narrows things down fast.
• Look for a sequence. Some puzzles tell the story in order, from beginning to end, left to right.
• Think in types. Is it a miracle, a parable, a person or a place? The choices often give it away.
• Say it out loud. Describing the four emoji in a sentence often brings the story to mind.

Scoring

Each right answer is a point, so a round is out of five. Your score is added to the weekly leaderboard, and you can share your result to your feed, copy a share line or play again.

A family favourite

Because the clues are pictures, 4 Pics 1 Word works for all ages. Younger children who can’t read long questions can still play. A few ideas:

• Play at the dinner table. Show the phone and let everyone guess before anyone taps.
• Tell the story after. When someone gets it, ask them to tell the whole story in their own words.
• Make your own. Challenge your children to make a four-emoji puzzle for a story they love and test the rest of the family.

Stories that stay

Jesus often taught with pictures: seeds, lamps, sheep and coins. A good picture helps a truth stay with us. The emoji in this game work in a small way like that, bringing the stories back to mind.

“All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them.” (Matthew 13:34)

Keep going

• Character Match: name the Bible figure
• Bible game night with Brethreign
• Games on Brethreign