HAMS Game: House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack
HAMS is another name for MASH, spelled with the same four letters in a different order: House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack. It isn't a separate game with separate rules. Play MASH online free and you've played HAMS too.
Why some people write HAMS instead of MASH
The four dwellings don't have a fixed order on the page. You can write Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House across the top, or House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack, and the game plays out the same. Somewhere along the way, someone wrote the second version down, other people copied it, and now both spellings show up in search results. MASH is the older, more common spelling, and it's the one this site and its apps use.
What each letter means
House is the plain outcome, the one nobody has strong feelings about either way. Apartment means a landlord and probably a roommate. Mansion is the one everyone hopes to land on. Shack gets the biggest laugh: one room and a leaky roof you'll never get around to fixing.
Does the order of the letters change anything?
No. You cross out options by counting to a number, not by which letter comes first in the acronym. Write the dwellings as House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack or as Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House and the odds are identical either way. The order only changes what you call the game afterward. The full mechanics are on the How to Play MASH page.
The other ways people spell it
MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) is what the app and this site use. M.A.S.H., with periods between the letters, is how older paper games sometimes wrote it. HAMS (House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack) is the reordered spelling this page is about. SHAM (Shack, House, Apartment, Mansion) puts the shack first, which spells a word that doubles as a review of the predictions. Some people skip the acronym entirely and just write out Mansion Apartment Shack House.
How a round works
- Write House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack across the top of a page, or open the browser version.
- Add more categories: who you'll marry, how many kids you'll have, what car you'll drive.
- Fill in four options per category, with at least one option you'd hate to land on.
- Draw a spiral. Have a friend say stop, then count the lines. That's your magic number.
- Count through the options and cross one off every time you hit the magic number, until one survives in each category.
That's the whole game. For the full walkthrough, with photos of a real paper round, see the How to Play MASH guide.
Where to play
This page is about the name. The game itself is free, right in your browser, no signup needed.
Prefer your phone? The iPhone and Apple Watch app saves your finished stories so you can send them to people later. Download it on the App Store.
HAMS game questions
Is HAMS the same game as MASH?
Yes. HAMS and MASH are the same fortune-telling game. HAMS spells the four dwellings as House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack; MASH spells them as Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House. The rules, categories, and spiral-counting method are identical either way.
What does HAMS stand for?
HAMS stands for House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack, the four places the game can send you to live. It's the same four dwellings used in MASH, just written in a different order.
Is it MASH or HAMS?
Both names refer to the same game. MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) is the more common spelling and the one used by this site and its apps. HAMS (House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack) is a reordering that some players use instead.
Can I play HAMS online free?
Yes. Since HAMS and MASH are the same game, you can play it free right in your browser. No download or signup required.
Does the order of the letters change the game?
No. The spiral-counting method crosses off options based on a number, not on which letter comes first in the acronym. House, Apartment, Mansion, Shack and Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House play out exactly the same way.
