A letter is drawn, the clock starts, and everyone hunts for a country, a city, an animal and more that begin with it. The game is known under a different name in almost every country and needs nothing but friends who like to argue about whether an answer counts.
The categories game in one minute
- Two to eight players, all on their own phone or computer.
- Each round has one letter and a timer.
- Type one word per category that starts with the letter.
- Unusual answers score more than answers someone else also had.
- Most points after the last round wins.
Setting up a table
Press Play with friends and send the link to the others. Whoever opens it sits at your table; nobody needs an account.
The player who opened the table chooses the categories (between two and ten), the number of rounds and the time per round, then presses Start game.
A round
A letter appears and the timer starts. Fill in the categories in any order. You can change an answer until the round closes.
The first player to fill in every category can press Stop. Everyone else then has three seconds to finish. If nobody presses Stop, the round closes when the time runs out.
Each letter is used only once per game. Letters that begin very few words are left out.
Checking the answers
After the round all answers are shown side by side, grouped by category. Tap an answer that you think doesn't count. It is struck out as soon as more than half of the other players have marked it.
An empty field and a word that starts with the wrong letter never score.
Scoring, with an example
Say the letter is B and the category is Animal, with four players:
- Bear and Bear: two players had the same answer, 5 points each.
- Badger: a correct answer nobody else had, 10 points.
- The fourth player wrote nothing: 0 points.
- If only one player had found any animal at all, that answer would have scored 15.
Tips
- Skip the first word that comes to mind. Everyone else thought of it too.
- Fill in the easy categories first and come back to the hard ones.
- Pressing Stop early costs the others their last answers, but only helps if yours are good.
- A shorter timer makes the game funnier. Try 60 seconds once everyone knows the rules.
House rules worth agreeing first
- Do "the" and "a" count as the first letter? Usually not.
- Do spelling mistakes count? Most groups let them pass if the word is clear.
- Are made-up brands, nicknames and very local places allowed?
- Can the same word be used in two categories in one round?
In a classroom or with family
The game works well for language lessons: choose the language of the page, and the letters follow that alphabet. Pick fewer categories and a longer timer for younger players. Players who join late wait for the next game to start.