If you know Scattergories, Category Rush keeps the category and the clock and swaps the answer pad for a board: one list — “Countries in Africa”, “Pixar films” — dealt as a board of names, a few of them bombs that only look like they belong. Take turns tapping, or Rush it: ninety seconds, three lives.
Word Grid is a race with the alphabet dissolved into a grid: all of you hunt the same sixteen dice at once, and any word two players found is crossed out for both. Herd Think flips that scoring so that suddenly you want to match — only the biggest group of identical answers scores.
Survey Showdown hides the category behind a poll — six things people actually said, found by typing your way into the crowd’s head. Table Party is not affiliated with the publisher of the box game; every game here is our own.
Pick by the night you’re having
Category Rush
Tap the names that are on the list and dodge the bombs. No answer pads to hand round, and Rush works on your own.
Something everyone already knows
Word Grid
No rules to explain. Trace words through touching letters; longer pays more; shared words die.
Twelve people, one phone each
Herd Think
Everyone answers at once and the reveal is the first time anyone sees who matched.
Just the two of you
Survey Showdown
Built for two — and a rated ladder when nobody else is around.A list, a grid, a crowd and a poll
Category Rush1–12 players · 5–10 minOne list dealt as a board of names, a few bombs hidden among them. Last one standing takes the board — or Rush it: ninety seconds, three lives.
Word Grid2–12 players · up to 100 with Teams · 5–10 minA race with the letters in a grid. Every phone shows the same dice; a word two players found is struck for both.
Herd Think3–12 players · up to 100 with Teams · 10–15 minScoring flipped: now you want to match. The biggest group of identical answers scores, and the odd one out gets the Pink Cow.
Survey Showdown2 players · 5 minA hidden six-answer board and a sixty-second clock, head to head. Five minutes a match.The box, and what you get here
| Scattergories in the box | On Table Party | |
|---|---|---|
| The prompt | A letter rolled on a twenty-sided die, and a list of categories | One list a round — “Pixar films” — dealt as a board of names, with a few bombs among them |
| Answers | Pen, answer pad, and the argument at the end | Tapped on your own phone; the list itself says what counts |
| Players | Two to six | One to twelve. Rush works on your own |
| Setting up | Pads, pencils, timer, category cards | A room code. Everyone joins from their own phone or laptop |
| Cost | The box | Free. No app, no sign-up, no adverts |
Playing in under a minute
- 1One person opens tableparty.io on a phone or a laptop and picks a game.
- 2Everyone else types the four-letter room code on their own phone. Nothing to install.
- 3Play. Anything secret stays on your own screen, so it works across a table or a video call.
Questions about Category games to play online
Is it the same categories-and-a-letter format?
No. Category Rush keeps the category and drops the letter: each round is one list dealt as a board of names, and the bombs hidden among them are names that only look like they belong.
Do duplicate answers score?
In Word Grid, never — a word two players found is struck for both. Herd Think is the inversion: only the biggest matching group scores at all.
Which of these seats a big group?
Category Rush, Word Grid and Herd Think all seat twelve. Survey Showdown is a five-minute head-to-head, so a big table runs it as a bracket between rounds of the others.
Which needs the least explaining?
Word Grid: touching letters make a word, longer pays more, shared words die. Category Rush needs one sentence too: tap the names that are on the list, and not the bombs.