Surviving the Words: Answers by Hazard
Every entry below is distilled from this site's own word database — the documented effects and guides the word pages already carry — reorganised so you can start from the danger in front of you instead of from a word's name. Where the sources document no counter, the entry says so instead of inventing one.
The floor is the hazard6 documented answers↓From the sky7 documented answers↓Something is hunting you13 documented answers↓The map itself turns hostile5 documented answers↓Blinded, slowed or pinned down4 documented answers↓No documented counter2 documented answers↓Words that answer words9 documented answers↓Getting health back2 documented answers↓
The floor is the hazard
Lava
Climb onto any raised structure and stay off the ground until it passes. It is a short hazard, so this is about reacting in the first seconds.
Tsunami
Get to high ground before the wave lands — rooftops and towers with ladders are the way up, and the word lists also name going underground as an option.
Flood
The same answer as Tsunami: height. Get up high and wait it out — it is a short hazard.
Fire
Get off grass and away from wooden structures, and stand where there is the least burnable material nearby. A wooden structure is fuel for this one, not cover.
Earthquake
The ground splits open. Watch your footing and stay clear of the fissures until it settles.
Shark
The shark cuts through floor water. If Flood or Tsunami brings water across your route, treat those areas as potentially dangerous — get out of the water and move to higher ground.
From the sky
Meteor
It often lasts the whole match, and the falling rocks can smash bunkers, so a roof is not a promise. Keep part of your attention on the sky and be ready to move when a rock comes down near you.
Acid
Get under solid cover — the counter the listing gives is a roof — before the rain starts; it is a short effect. Its notes also warn that it is brutal combined with Lava, and the combination is listed as floor and toxic rain both unsafe, so if lava is already on the ground, check the ground under your cover as well.
Supernova
Hide in shade or under cover before it hits and stay there until it passes — it is a short effect. Crossing open ground mid-detonation trades a known safe patch for exposure, so move early, on the warning.
Volcano
Lava rocks fly across the map. Keep moving, and do not stand in the open where a rock can land on you.
Airstrike
A jet runs carpet bombs across the island. Get under solid cover or into the bunker while it passes.
Nuke
When the warning sounds, sprint for the bunker — that is what the bunker is for. Do not spend the warning seconds typing or looting.
Storm
Rain, thunder and hard wind at once. Get under cover and wait it out rather than crossing the island.
Something is hunting you
Dinosaur
It hunts players, so keep moving and keep an escape route open. Higher ground may help you create space, but it is not a documented counter, and some hunters can climb.
King Kong
It climbs after players and tosses them, so one perch is not enough. Keep a second escape route in mind before you settle.
Zombie
The swarm keeps coming for the whole match. Keep moving or get high, and do not let yourself get cornered at ground level.
Monster
It tracks players who sprint. Walk while it is active, even if that feels slow — running is what draws it to you.
Nextbot
It sprints after you. Keep moving and use structures to break its path instead of running in a straight line.
Spider
A giant spider plus her brood. Keep your distance and keep moving rather than fighting the small ones in place.
Dragon
A fire-breathing dragon. Keep your distance, keep moving, and use cover when it turns toward you.
Slime
The slimes crush on contact as they bounce. Keep clear of their bounce path instead of trying to slip past at the last second.
Bomb
A live bomb hunts you down. Keep moving and put distance and obstacles between you and it.
Luffy
The Writer stretches, flies and grabs other players. Run and break line of sight.
Goku
Dodge the beams, or hide behind cover.
Backrooms
You noclip into the Backrooms. The entity inside can kill, and some exits are fake, so check an exit carefully before you trust it.
The map itself turns hostile
Black Hole
It eats a corner of the map, and the pull is part of the hazard. Treat the corner it takes as lost ground: move toward the opposite side of the island early, and do not let other hazards push you toward it.
Blackhole
Keep out of the corner it opens in, and stay outside its ring.
Tornado
Keep your distance — the twister pulls things toward it. Stay near solid structures instead of crossing open ground.
Zone
The safe circle shrinks inward, so the usable map keeps getting smaller and the edges go first. Move toward the centre early and keep re-centring as it closes — no duration is listed, so treat it as a moving boundary rather than a timer.
Rumbling
A line of giants marches across the island, so the hazard is a moving route, not a fixed spot. Read which way the line is heading and step off its path — running ahead of it along the same line only keeps you in its way.
Blinded, slowed or pinned down
Night
Visibility drops across the island. Slow down and stay somewhere you already know is safe.
Fog
Vision drops in the fog, but walls turn see-through — you can read shapes through structures, which cuts both ways: other players can spot you too.
Go
Everyone is forced to walk. Stay away from edges while it runs, or cancel it with Idle if you need to hold a safe position.
See also: Idle
Gojo
Do not chase the Writer while Gojo is up. The field slows you, and the Writer is effectively untouchable for about 30 seconds — wait it out at a distance.
No documented counter
For these two, the sources document no way to dodge the effect itself. What follows is positioning and expectation-setting, not a counter.
Epidemic
A cough spreads through everyone, and no position or tactic is documented to keep you clear of it. Hold the safe ground you already have, keep watching whatever else is stacking, and let it pass — it is a short effect, and the listing gives the cough no second effect to plan around.
Apocalypse
The word list documents this only as world-ending chaos across the whole map and does not break down what the chaos consists of, so no single counter spot is documented. Use the warning to move somewhere with options — not cornered, and not already exposed to the hazards stacked from earlier words — and ride it out.
Words that answer words
You can only type on your own Writer turn, so these are plays for when the word is yours to spend — or the reason the island gets safer when another player spends their turn on them.
Clear
One of the few words that cleans up instead of adding chaos: it resets the skies, so it can end weather words that are already running. It also recharges after each use, so it cannot be flipped over and over — the exact limit is on its word page.
Rain
Rain snuffs out fires, so it is a soft counter while fire hazards are on the field.
Fly
Wings for the whole lobby. Flight is the cleanest escape from ground hazards like Lava and Flood — get airborne and let them pass below.
Hero
For a short window you get flight, punches and a hero landing. The flight is the survival tool, because it takes you off the ground and out of ground hazards — spend the window moving to a stronger position instead of sightseeing, because it does not last.
Star
The buff makes you invincible, and it is short, so save it for the moment the stacked hazards turn deadly instead of spending it early. Use that window to reposition before the next hazard hits, rather than assuming every dangerous surface is safe to cross.
Time Stop
Time freezes for everyone else. Use the free seconds to reposition somewhere safe before things start moving again.
Saitama
One punch clears monsters. It is the direct answer when a Monster is already on top of you.
Shield
Shield's riot-shield version blocks hits. Use it against direct attacks, but focus on getting to safety during lava or floods. Another listing describes a personal force field, though it is unclear whether this is a separate in-game effect.
Safehouse
A safe house with a crystal core appears on the map. Despite the name, no source documents what it actually protects against — treat it as unproven shelter, not a guaranteed safe spot.
Getting health back
Capybara
Stay near the capybaras to heal. It is one of the rare words that makes the island safer instead of deadlier — a good type when you are the one low on health.
Oasis
A healing oasis appears on the map. Head to it to recover when it is up — it is one of the few safe objectives worth crossing the island for.
Compiled from the word list and published guides behind this site's database (November 2026). Effects and counters reflect the information currently documented; where sources disagree or stay silent, the entry keeps that uncertainty.