SuperDevTools
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Name Place Animal Thing game online

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2:00

Space bar: draw a letter. Each letter comes up only once per game.

Game settings
Excluded letters

Tap a letter to take it out of the draw or put it back. Crossed-out letters will not come up.

Categories

Tick the categories you play. Categories you add are kept on this device.

    Players

      Type each player's word: 10 points if nobody else has it, 5 points if another player wrote the same word, 0 if the box is empty. Delete a word the table rejects.

      Scores

      Ranking

        Paper sheet

        A game host for Name, Place, Animal, Thing

        Name Place Animal Thing is the classic paper-and-pencil word game, also known as the categories game. A letter is drawn, and each player races to write a word starting with that letter for every category: a name, a place, an animal, a thing, and more. This page does the host's job: it draws the letter, keeps time, suggests categories, adds up the scores and prints blank grids.

        There is no built-in dictionary: the players accept or reject a word between themselves. The "Word ideas" tab only offers a few examples for a stuck player.

        How to start a game

        1. Under "Categories", pick a "Starting list": Classic, Children, Adults, Food, Sport or Travel. Untick the ones you do not want, remove one with the cross, or type your own in "New category" and press "Add".
        2. For variety, set "Number of categories" to 5 and click "Pick categories at random": only 5 categories from the list stay ticked.
        3. In "Game settings", choose the "Round length", from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. By default the letters Q, X and Z are left out; tap a letter to exclude it or put it back.
        4. Click "Draw a letter" or press the space bar. The timer starts on its own if "Start the timer after each draw" is ticked.
        5. The first player to fill in every box presses "Stop!": the timer stops and a gentle alarm tells the table. Otherwise the alarm sounds when time runs out.

        With the default settings 23 letters remain, so up to 23 rounds.

        Scoring

        The "Scoring" tab takes 2 to 10 players. Give each one a name, then type the words for the round. The tool uses the usual rule: 10 points for a word nobody else wrote, 5 points if another player wrote the same word, 0 points for an empty box. Capitals, accents and hyphens are ignored, so "BRAZIL" and "brazil" count as the same answer. If the table rejects a word, delete it and it scores 0. "Save the round" adds a row to the score table and updates the ranking.

        Example with the letter B and three categories. Player 1 writes Belgium, Bear, Banana. Player 2 writes Brazil, Bear and leaves the fruit empty. Player 3 writes Belgium, Bison, Banana. For the country, Brazil scores 10 and each Belgium 5. For the animal, both Bears score 5 and Bison 10. For the fruit, both Bananas score 5 and the empty box 0. Totals: Player 1 has 15, Player 2 has 15 and Player 3 leads with 20.

        Play on screen or on paper

        The "My sheet" tab lets one player fill in a row on a phone: one box per category, with a quiet reminder when a word does not start with the right letter. At the next draw the row moves to "My rounds". For the whole table, "Print a blank grid" prepares an A4 landscape sheet: a column for the letter, one per ticked category and one for points, with 3 to 12 rows set by "Rows on the grid".

        Variations and category ideas

        In the UK, Ireland, India and Australia the four classic headings are Name, Place, Animal and Thing; many families add Food, Colour or Job. Some groups give 15 or 20 points to a player who is the only one to fill a category at all; work that out by hand, as the tool keeps the 10, 5, 0 rule. Others play with no timer and end the round at the first "Stop!".

        • Ages 6 to 8: name, animal, fruit or vegetable, colour, toy. Keep the easy letters and allow 2 or 3 minutes.
        • Ages 9 to 12: country, city, job, clothing, something in the house, fairy tale character.
        • Teenagers and adults: musical instrument, good or bad habit, film title, dish, sport, or the Food and Travel lists.

        Brands and famous people are left out of every list; add them yourself if your table wants them.

        In the classroom and at a party

        Teachers use the game to revise vocabulary. Show the page on the board, draw the letter and add categories linked to the lesson, such as an adjective, a verb in the past tense or a European country. Pupils play in teams on a printed grid. At a party, put a phone in the middle of the table, leave the timer on 2 minutes and pass the scoring role around.

        Your categories and the players' names stay on your device.

        Frequently asked questions

        Can the same letter come up twice?

        Not in the same game. Each letter is drawn fairly from those not yet drawn and not excluded. When all have been used, click "New game".

        Why are Q, X and Z excluded?

        Very few everyday words start with them, which often stalls the table. Tap a crossed-out letter to put it back if your group likes a challenge.

        How does the tool spot a shared answer?

        It compares words within a category, ignoring capitals, accents and extra spaces. Two identical words score 5 each, while "Lion" and "Lioness" stay two different words.

        The alarm does not sound. What should I do?

        Check that "Alarm at the end" is ticked and that the device volume is up. Sound only starts after a first click on the page.