Categories Game (City, Country, River)
Draw a letter, start the clock and write. Afterwards enter every player’s points on one device – the score table adds everything up and is saved in your browser.
How it is calculated
How to play the categories game
In the classic categories game – known in German as “Stadt, Land, Fluss” (city, country, river) – everyone gets the same starting letter and tries to find a word for each category. With “B” that could be Boston for city, Brazil for country and Brahmaputra for river. You can play it with pen and paper and no board game at all; this page provides the letter, the timer and the score sheet.
- Set up: enter the players’ names, adjust the categories and choose the time per round.
- Draw a letter: a random letter that has not come up in this game yet. The clock starts right away.
- Write: each player on paper – or on the answer sheet you can print here.
- Score: read out the answers, enter points for each player and category, save the round.
Scoring
There is no single official scoring rule. In the traditional game a unique answer usually beats a shared one; the commercial game Scattergories, for example, gives no points for duplicated answers. The points suggestion here follows a common German house rule:
- 20 points if nobody else has an answer in that category,
- 10 points for an answer nobody else has,
- 5 points if several players have the same answer,
- 0 points for an empty field or a wrong answer.
If you type the answers in, “Suggest points” fills in values by this rule. It only checks the first letter and identical answers (case and accents are ignored) – whether an answer really fits the category is up to your group. You can set any field to 0, 5, 10 or 20, also without typing answers. To play without points for duplicates, simply set them to 0.
Letters, timer and categories
- No repeats: each letter comes up at most once per game. Letters already drawn are underlined in the settings.
- Hard letters: Q, X and Z are switched off at first because few words start with them. Tap a letter to put it back in play.
- Timer: from 30 seconds to 5 minutes, or no limit. At the end you hear three beeps, generated directly in the browser; you can turn them off.
- Categories: the default set is City, Country, River, Name, Job, Plant and Animal. For variety try musical instrument, celebrity, food, brand, sport or “things you pack for a holiday”.
Tips
- With two players it works just as well – the 20-point bonus makes empty fields expensive.
- In a classroom, project the letter and timer and let teams write on paper.
- Agree beforehand what counts: are regions a “country”? Does a creek count as a river?
Privacy
Player names, categories, drawn letters and points are only stored in your browser’s localStorage and never sent to a server. Randomness comes from the browser’s cryptography interface.
More for game night: the random letter wheel, the score keeper and Hangman.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play the categories game without the board game?
You only need paper, pens and a random letter. Agree on categories, draw a letter here, start the timer and everyone writes one word per category starting with that letter. Then compare answers and score.
What happens if two players write the same word?
That depends on your rules. With the house rule used here, both get 5 points instead of 10. In Scattergories, duplicate answers score nothing – set those fields to 0 if you prefer that.
Is there an online timer?
Yes. Choose 30 seconds to 5 minutes or no limit. The clock starts when you draw a letter, you can stop it with “Stop!” or the S key, and it beeps three times when time is up.
Can you play with 2 players?
Yes. The score table works for 1 to 8 players on one device. With two players, the 20-point bonus for being the only one with an answer matters a lot.
Which letters are best left out?
Letters with few matching words, such as Q, X and Z, are switched off here at first. You can switch any letter on or off before drawing.
Can I play with friends online?
Only on one shared device: the letter and timer are shown on one screen, everyone writes on paper or the printed answer sheet, and the scores are entered at the end. There is no connection between several phones.
Is my score saved?
Yes, only in your browser (localStorage). It survives reloading the page; “New game” resets points and drawn letters.
Sources and legal basis
- Wikipedia: Categories (game)
- Wikipedia: Scattergories
- MDN: Crypto.getRandomValues()
- MDN: Web Audio API – OscillatorNode
As of:
Related tools
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- Play hangman onlineFree hangman game in your browser: 3,000 common English words in three levels, or enter your own secret word for a friend. Keyboard and touch, no sign-up.
- Online score keeperFree online score keeper and score counter for board and card games: rounds, running totals, rankings, target score and undo. Saved locally in your browser.
- Roll dice online: d6, d20 and moreOnline dice roller: roll 1–10 dice with 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 20 sides, d6 with dots, total, roll history and exact odds. Fair cryptographic randomness.
- Play the 2048 game onlinePlay 2048 free in your browser: swipe or use the arrow keys to merge tiles until you reach 2048. With best score, one-step undo and your game saved.