Beyond being a fun way to interact with friends, answering Scattergories lists challenges your brain by making you come up with clever, creative answers you think no one else will write down. Plus, when players read their answers to the Scattergories categories aloud after each round is done, you could learn something new about them!

How to Play Scattergories

This game is all about flexing your creative muscles to the best of your abilities. Unlike most popular board games, you don’t need to move pieces across a board or collect cards to win. To start, roll a 20 sided dice to find which letter of the alphabet you’ll be playing with (Q, U, V, X, Y, and Z are excluded) and start with a new Scattergories list from the examples below (or make your own!). Players have a specific time limit to think of a word that fits each of the 12 Scattergories categories on the list that begin with the letter rolled. Every word a player chooses has to be unique and creative because if another player says the same word that you’re thinking first, you do not get any points. Example: If a category on a list is “Animal” and the first letter is “D”, the word “dog” would be a very common answer but words like “Dachshund” and “Dalmatian” may be a better answer because other players are less likely to come up with those words first!

Creating Scattergories Lists

Usually, a game of Scattergories comes with ten pre-made Scattergories lists. However, they can get repetitive if you play this game regularly. Spicing things up with new or funny Scattergories categories of your own can lead to even more laughter, quick thinking, and friendly competition! Can’t think of some new Scattergories categories to make up your own list? Just use one of our examples Scattergories lists below!

Example Scattergories Lists 

List #1

  1. Holiday Activities
  2. Things That Will Get You Fired
  3. Ways to Kill Time
  4. Things That Make You Smile
  5. Reasons to Call 911
  6. Things That Have Buttons
  7. Items You Take On A Trip
  8. Things That Have Wheels
  9. Titles People Can Have
  10. Types of Weather
  11. Reasons to Make a Phone Call
  12. Things You Save Up to Buy List #2
  13. Things You Get in the Mail
  14. Things You Do Every Day
  15. Things You Store Items In
  16. Historic Events
  17. Things to Do on a Date
  18. Words Associated With Winter
  19. Reasons to Take Out a Loan
  20. Things That Can Kill You
  21. Things You Buy for Kids
  22. Honeymoon Spots
  23. Computer Programs
  24. Places to Hang Out List #3
  25. Things You Make
  26. Things at a Carnival
  27. Spicy Foods
  28. Things You Shouldn’t Touch
  29. Foreign Words Used in English
  30. Things You Do at Work
  31. Things You Get Tickets For
  32. Things Found in New York
  33. Kinds of Soup
  34. Trees
  35. Things at a Football Game
  36. Store Names List #4
  37. Musical Groups
  38. Types of Drinks
  39. Cartoon Characters
  40. Occupations
  41. Things You Throw Away
  42. States
  43. Vegetables
  44. Things at a Circus
  45. Beers
  46. Things That You Wear
  47. Games
  48. Movie Titles List #5
  49. Items in a Vending Machine
  50. Words Associated With Money
  51. Diseases
  52. Vacation Spots
  53. Things Found in a Desk
  54. Famous Duos and Trios
  55. Things You Replace
  56. Flowers
  57. Items in a Kitchen
  58. Methods of Transportation
  59. Birds
  60. Things You Shout List #6
  61. Ethnic Foods
  62. Parts of the Body
  63. Song Titles
  64. Sports
  65. Words Associated With Exercise
  66. Things That Are Round
  67. Weapons
  68. Halloween Costumes
  69. Authors
  70. Bodies of Water
  71. Household Chores
  72. Toys List #7
  73. Things in a Medicine Cabinet
  74. Fruits
  75. Notorious People
  76. Restaurants
  77. Leisure Activities
  78. Parks
  79. Reptiles/Amphibians
  80. Cooking Utensils
  81. Celebrities
  82. Cosmetics/Toiletries
  83. Bad Habits
  84. Spices/Herbs List #8
  85. Cars
  86. Awards/Ceremonies
  87. Things That Are Sticky
  88. Crimes
  89. Sports Equipment
  90. Things With Tails
  91. Items in a Suitcase
  92. Something You Keep Hidden
  93. Footwear
  94. Kinds of Candy
  95. Capitals
  96. Magazines List #9
  97. Menu Items
  98. Fictional Characters
  99. Items in This Room
  100. Terms of Endearment
  101. Historical Figures
  102. Things That Have Spots
  103. Countries
  104. Fish
  105. Colleges/Universities
  106. Pizza Toppings
  107. Things in the Sky
  108. Nicknames List #10
  109. Musical Instruments
  110. Stones/Gems
  111. Foreign Cities
  112. Things in a Park
  113. Television Stars
  114. Ice Cream Flavors
  115. Excuses for Being Late
  116. School Subjects
  117. Sandwiches
  118. Animals in Books or Movies
  119. Foods You Eat Raw
  120. Children’s Books Check out…26 Best Online Board Games50 Best Family Board Games30 Texting Games35 Best Online Games8 Virtual Games to Play Over Zoom

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