What Category Rush is
One list — countries in Africa, Pixar films, Harry Potter characters — dealt as a board of names with a few bombs hiding among them. Take turns tapping names that are on it: hit a bomb and you’re out, and the last one standing takes the board. Or Rush it: 90 seconds, three lives, as many as you can find.
“Dog” under animals arrives in two seconds and is worth nothing the moment anybody else writes it. Every row is therefore a bet on how far from the obvious you can push and still have an answer the table will accept.
Deciding what counts is part of the game rather than a row you have to have afterwards. When the writing closes every list goes up at once, doubts are raised with a name attached, and everyone votes in sealed ballots — an answer falls only if the votes against it outnumber the votes for it.
The die carries no J, Q, U, V, X, Y or Z, because a full list on Q is a punishment rather than a round. Leading articles come off before the letter is read, so “A Beautiful Mind” is a B and dies on an A round.
How to play Category Rush
- Every round is one list — “Countries in Africa”, “Pixar films” — dealt out as a board of names. Most are on the list. Some are bombs, and the board says how many.
- Take turns tapping one name each. A name on the list is safe, and the turn moves on.
- Tap a bomb, or let your clock run out, and you’re out of the board.
- When a board has nothing left but bombs, a fresh one deals in, a bomb harder.
- The last one standing takes the board. First to three boards wins (fewer at a big table).
- Don’t fancy a list? Everyone has one veto a game: veto it on its card and a new list deals in (the host can turn vetoes off).
- Or play Rush: everyone on their own board at once, 90 seconds and three lives. Most names found wins, and it works on your own.
How to win at Category Rush
Second thought, not first
The answer that arrived instantly arrived on everybody else’s phone at the same speed.
Fill every row
A strange answer you might lose to a challenge still beats the guaranteed nothing of a blank.
Proper nouns split a table
Films, towns and people scatter far more reliably than common nouns, which everyone reaches for in the same order.
Doubt the plausible ones
The answers worth challenging are the ones that sound almost right, not the jokes the whole table will strike anyway.
Mind the article
The letter is read after “a”, “an” and “the” are stripped, so “The Rock” is an R.
One sceptic is not enough
A tied vote leaves the answer standing, so raise a doubt only when you can take somebody with you.
Questions about Category Rush
What counts as a duplicate answer?
Case, punctuation, accents and leading articles are all folded before the comparison, so “The Rock”, “rock” and “ROCK.” are one answer and score nobody. “Rock” and “Rocket” are two, and both stand.
Who decides whether an answer is allowed?
The table. Anyone can doubt an answer that is not their own, everyone else casts a sealed ballot, and the answer is struck only if the votes against it strictly outnumber the votes for it.
Which letters can come up?
Nineteen of the twenty-six — J, Q, U, V, X, Y and Z are left off, exactly as the physical die leaves them off. Each round draws a different one, so three rounds are never all S.
How does it play with two people?
The jury disappears. Nobody may vote on their own answer, so head to head a challenge is settled by the one person who raised it — challenge the way you would want to be challenged.
Is Category Rush free?
Yes. Every game on Table Party is free, with no accounts, no adverts and nothing to buy.
How many people do you need for Category Rush?
Between 1 and 12. Below 1 there are not enough of you for the game to work.
Do we need to download anything?
No. One person opens the site and starts a room; everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Can we play Category Rush over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.
