In short: to play a Scattergories-style game online for free, try Rarest Answer — one category at a time, and the rarer your correct answer among all players, the more you score. For the classic letter-and-list format, the Hasbro app or the pen-and-paper game Stop.
8 games like Scattergories
- Rarest Answer daily · free · browser · daily
Scattergories' best rule as a daily game: answers other players also gave are worth little, a correct answer nobody else wrote is worth the most. Includes letter prompts like “an animal that starts with B”. - Play with friends (rooms) · free · up to 30 players
Everyone answers the same category on their own phone; duplicates score low automatically — no arguing over who wrote what. - Rarest Answer Unlimited · free · unlimited
Endless category prompts with forgiving spelling and alternative names accepted. - Stop / Basta / Tutti Frutti / Stadt, Land, Fluss · pen and paper
The folk game Scattergories grew from: pick a letter, fill in country, city, animal, name… and cross out shared answers. - Scattergories (Hasbro) · board game · app
The original: a 20-sided letter die, category lists and a timer; matching answers cancel out. - Categories / “Name, Place, Animal, Thing” apps · apps
Many free phone versions of the pen-and-paper game for playing with friends. - Pointless · TV
The quiz-show version of the same idea: answers few people gave score best. - Krillion · browser · daily
A daily game built on obscure correct answers to open categories.
A letter category, with every answer counted
| Answer | Share of players | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Bear · Common | 16.8% | 26 |
| Bat · Common | 8.9% | 35 |
| Bee · Common | 6.1% | 40 |
| Beaver · Common | 4.7% | 44 |
| Bat-eared Fox · Rare | 0.34% | 82 |
| Barbary Ape · Rare | 0.35% | 82 |
| Banded Mongoose · Rare | 0.35% | 82 |
| Bighorn Sheep · Rare | 0.36% | 82 |
In Scattergories the top rows would be crossed out by duplicates. Here they score a few points and the bottom rows score the most.
How they compare
| Scattergories | Rarest Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| Prompt | A letter + 12 categories | One category (some with a letter) |
| Duplicate answers | Cancelled within your group | Score lower the more players gave them |
| Who judges | The players (arguments!) | A list of accepted answers |
| Players | 2–6 at a table | Solo, 1v1 or rooms of up to 30 |
| Price | Board game / app | Free, no sign-up |
Scattergories tricks that work here
- Think in sub-categories: not “an animal” but “a fish”, “a bird from Australia”.
- Use specific names: a breed, a brand, a regional dish.
- Adjectives don't help — the answer must be on the accepted list.
More: unique answer game · name something rare · games like Pointless