FLAMES calculator
Free, no sign-up · Updated Oct 2026
The school name game: Friends, Love, Affection, Marriage, Enemies or Siblings.
Work it out
FLAMES says
Friends
5 letters left · one pair each
Priya and Arun: Friends. The kind who share the last samosa.
- Letters left
- 5
- Crossed out
- r a · 4 letters
- Left in your name
- p i y
- Left in theirs
- u n
The kind who share the last samosa.
What it is made of
Point at a part to see it on its own.
From your numbers
Worked out from what you entered. Try one.
- Both paper rules give Friends for these names, so nobody can argue.
- Add surnames and FLAMES has more letters to count: full names often change the answer.
- Got a list? Play your name against up to five names at once.
How FLAMES fell
Each round counts the letters left round F L A M E S and crosses out the letter it lands on.
- E outRound 1: counting 5 lands on E (Enemies), so it is crossed out.
- M outRound 2: counting 5 lands on M (Marriage), so it is crossed out.
- S outRound 3: counting 5 lands on S (Siblings), so it is crossed out.
- L outRound 4: counting 5 lands on L (Love), so it is crossed out.
- A outRound 5: counting 5 lands on A (Affection), so it is crossed out.
- F staysFriends is the last letter standing.
Round by round
Always open, in full.
| Round | Count | Crossed out | Still in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Count 5 | Enemies | F L A M S |
| 2 | Count 5 | Marriage | F L A S |
| 3 | Count 5 | Siblings | F L A |
| 4 | Count 5 | Love | F A |
| 5 | Count 5 | Affection | F |
Full breakdown
- Letters left
- 5
- Crossed out
- r a · 4 letters
- Left in your name
- p i y
- Left in theirs
- u n
Guide
What FLAMES is
FLAMES is the name game almost every Indian school child has played on the back of a notebook. The letters stand for Friends, Love, Affection, Marriage, Enemies and Siblings (some play S as Sister). You write two names, cross out the letters they share, count what is left and use that number to knock the letters of FLAMES out one by one. The last letter standing is the answer. This free tool plays it for you and shows every step, so you can check it the way you did on paper.
How to play it on paper
- Write both names, for example PRIYA and ARUN.
- Cross out the letters they share. Here P R I Y A and A R U N share R and A: cross one R and one A in each name.
- Count the letters left: P I Y in Priya and U N in Arun, 5 letters.
- Write F L A M E S. Count 5 from F: you land on E, so cross it out.
- Carry on counting 5 from the next letter, round and round, crossing out where you land, until one letter is left. For Priya and Arun that is F: Friends.
The two paper rules
Paper versions differ in one way that matters: what to do when a letter appears more than once.
| Rule | What you cross out | Example: ANITHA + ANANTH |
|---|---|---|
| One pair each (the usual school rule) | one copy from each name for every pair | the A, N, T and H pairs and the second A, leaving I and N: 2 letters, Enemies |
| Every copy | the letter wherever it appears in both names | every A, N, T and H, leaving only I: 1 letter, Siblings |
The two rules can give different answers, which is why two friends with the same names sometimes argue in the corridor. The tool tells you when the other rule disagrees, and you can switch with one tap. Some people also restart counting from F after each round; this tool carries on from the next letter, as most people play.
A Tamil game older than FLAMES
Long before notebooks, classical Tamil poems described koodal izhaithal: a woman drawing circles in the sand and reading them as a sign of whether her beloved would return. Madras Musings linked the custom with FLAMES in its piece on the game. The urge to let a little game “decide” is very old.
Divya’s class in Kallakurichi
In Divya’s class at a school in Kallakurichi, the last bench had a FLAMES league. Everyone wrote their names and five film stars’ names, and the counting went on all through the lunch break. When the tool’s More names switch arrived on a friend’s phone, they played all five at once and checked the rounds against their notebooks. Two answers disagreed with the paper, and the round-by-round table showed why: one of them had crossed every copy of an A.
Play it kindly
- It is a playground game, not a prediction. Laugh at the answer and move on.
- Ask before you type someone else’s name and share the result.
- “Enemies” only means friendly rivals here: nobody becomes an enemy because of a letter.
Common mistakes
- Crossing the same letter twice in one name for a single match.
- Mixing the rules between rounds: decide one rule first.
- Counting from F every round when your friends count on from the next letter.
- Forgetting spaces don’t count: only letters are counted.
Sources: “FLAMES” in Madras Musings (on koodal izhaithal and the FLAMES game); the rules as commonly played in Indian schools, compared with polaroidbooth.com’s FLAMES guide (read October 2026).
Questions
How does the FLAMES game work?
Cross out the letters two names share, count the letters left, then count round F L A M E S and cross out the letter you land on. Repeat until one letter is left: that is the answer.
What does FLAMES stand for?
Friends, Love, Affection, Marriage, Enemies and Siblings. Some people play the S as Sister or Sweetheart, and the A as Attraction.
Why did my friend get a different answer?
There are two paper rules for shared letters: crossing one pair at a time, or every copy. They can give different answers. Some people also restart counting from F after each round.
Should I use first names or full names?
Either works; it is your game. Full names give more letters to count and often change the answer. The tool tells you what first names alone would say.
Can I play FLAMES with more than two names?
Yes. Turn on More names, type up to five names, and the tool plays your name against each one with the same rule.
Are the names saved?
No. Everything happens in your browser. Names are never saved or sent anywhere, and they are left out of the share link.