August 6, 2026
MASH 2.0 for Mac is available now!
Download MASH 2.0 on the Mac App Store. The free update is a native Mac rewrite: resizable window, gel-pen eliminations, Saved Stories passcode, and keyboard shortcuts.
Read the postEvery way to play MASH
MASH stands for Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House. It's the fortune-telling game you played on notebook paper, where a scribbled spiral decided who you'd marry and what you'd drive.
We've been making MASH apps since 2008, when we made the first one for iPhone, and we still dread getting the shack. You can find the rules and a blank sheet on this site. Or play in the browser, and let it do the counting for you.
pick one
Five ways to play MASH
Same game every time. The only thing that changes is who does the counting.
-
In your browser
Type your lists and the page draws the spiral and does the counting. It works on phones too.
Play MASH online -
With a pen and paper
The original. All you need is a pen and a friend who won't peek.
Read the rules -
On a printed sheet
A blank chart with the classic lists and a circle for the spiral. Print it in color, or in black and white for the copier.
Get the sheet -
On iPhone and Apple Watch
Draw the spiral with your finger, or let MASH pick the number for you.
See the app -
On a Mac
MASH 2.0 is a native rewrite with a resizable window and gel-pen eliminations. $4.99, or free if you already own it.
MASH for Mac
what's in a name?
What MASH stands for
Mansion, apartment, shack, house. That's where you'll live, and it goes across the top of every sheet before anything else. Some people play it as HAMS or SHAM. Same four houses.
-
Mansion
the dream
-
Apartment
honestly fine
-
Shack
please not this one
-
House
the safe pick
the paper way
How to play MASH
Here's one sheet, played start to finish. The page draws a new spiral each time it loads, so reload for a different future.
-
Write the lists
Put M-A-S-H across the top. Under it, make a few categories and give each one four options. Sneak in one you'd hate.
-
Draw the spiral
The other player shuts their eyes. You draw a spiral from the middle out until they say stop.
-
Count the rings
Draw a line from the center to the edge and count how many times it crosses the spiral. That's the magic number. This sheet got 6.
-
Cross them off
Start at M and count through every option. Cross off the one you land on at 6, then keep going from the next. Skip anything already crossed off, and skip a list once it has one left.
- Mansion, crossed off
- Apartment, crossed off
- Shack, kept
- House, crossed off
Marry
- a celebrity crush, crossed off
- someone in your class, crossed off
- your worst enemy, kept
- a total wildcard, crossed off
Drive
- Ferrari, crossed off
- minivan, kept
- shopping cart, crossed off
- horse, crossed off
Kids
- 0, crossed off
- 2, kept
- 5, crossed off
- 17, crossed off
Magic number: 6
You live in a shack, marry your worst enemy, drive a minivan, and have 2 kids.
stuck?
MASH category ideas
"Who you marry" and "what you drive" are classics. But after that, the choices are yours. Here are 12 from our set of 50+, with the options we'd circle first at the top.
-
Midlife crisis purchase
-
How you will meet your spouse
-
Unusual pet
-
Theme song when you enter a room
-
Pet
-
Secret identity
-
First date location
-
Superpower
-
Ghost that haunts your house
-
Career
-
Social media followers
-
Honeymoon destination
after MASH
More free games
Tic Tac Toe, Four in a Row, Dots and Boxes, and Snowman all run in the browser. The coloring book has the four MASH houses in it.
for the bus ride
Get the MASH app
The app has the spiral and the counting, plus art by cartoonist Scott McMahon and confetti when your story comes out. It runs on iPhone and iPad, and the Apple Watch version comes with it.
Download MASH for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac:
-
Find MASH on the App Store for iPhone and iPad:
Apple iOS App Store
August 6, 2026
psst
Get an email when we make something new
also from us