Category Sprint
Name as many as you can before time runs out.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Last checked
This Outburst-style party game hands you a random category and starts a timer while you race to name as many items as you can before it runs out. It's perfect for game nights and warm-ups, keeping the focus on fast prompts and a clock rather than fiddly setup.
Set. Choose your timer length to match the pace you want.
Name as many as you can…
?
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⏰ Time's up!
Options
How it works
- Set. Choose your timer length to match the pace you want.
- Start. Click "New category" to reveal a random category and begin the round.
- Race. Name as many items as you can before the clock hits zero.
About the Category Sprint
One category, all the answers you can find
This inverts Scattergories. Instead of one letter across many categories, you get a single category and a timer, and the job is to name as many things in it as you can before time runs out. That makes it a much faster game to explain and a much better one for a group standing up.
It draws from the same category packs as Scattergories, so the general pack gives you broad prompts and the themed packs give you narrow ones. A narrow category with a long timer is the hardest combination and the one that produces the best arguments.
Setting a timer that works
The timer is the entire difficulty control here. Thirty seconds makes it a reflex game where the first six answers are all anyone gets; ninety seconds makes it a game of endurance where the interesting answers arrive after the obvious ones are exhausted.
For a group taking turns, shorter is better — a ninety-second turn is a long time to watch someone else think. For a whole-room game where everyone writes at once, longer works.
Ways to play it
- Round robin: one category, each player names one thing in turn, out when you repeat or stall.
- Written: everyone lists privately, then compare — duplicates cancel, as in Scattergories.
- Team relay: the team names as many as possible together within the timer.
- Solo practice: it is a surprisingly good vocabulary and recall exercise for a language learner.
Picking a pack that fits the room
The general pack is by far the largest and is the right default — its categories are broad enough that everyone can find at least a few answers, which keeps a mixed group playing. The themed packs are much narrower, and narrowness is what makes them hard: a food category gives a specialist an advantage and leaves everyone else stuck after three answers.
For a group with a shared interest, a themed pack is the better game. For a family gathering or a team event where knowledge is uneven, the general pack keeps the scores close enough that people stay in it.
Frequently asked questions
How long should the timer be?
Sixty seconds is the classic Outburst length. Try 30 for a faster pace or 120 for an easier warm-up.
How do we keep score?
Track points on paper or in a notes app — the tool deliberately sticks to prompts plus a timer so play stays quick.
Are the categories random?
Yes. Each category is pulled at random using your browser's crypto.getRandomValues, so rounds stay unpredictable.
Does it need to be online?
No. The game runs entirely in your browser, works offline, and never sends any data to a server.
Related randomizers
Further reading
- Name three, fast: hosting the 5 Second Rule on a phone
The 5 Second Rule is funny because the clock makes easy questions impossible. Here's how to run it cleanly — a fair prompt, a countdown that panics you at the right moment, and packs that fit a family table or a bolder crowd.
- Brain breaks aren't just for classrooms
Attention fades in a long meeting exactly the way it fades in a long lesson. Here's how to use a random brain break outside the K-12 classroom — in remote meetings, study sessions, therapy groups, and homeschool pods.
- Hosting hangman without anyone peeking at the word
Whoever draws the hangman word usually sees it on screen first, spoiling it for the group. Here's how a hidden-until-revealed word generator lets one host run the game off a shared screen without leaking the answer.
- Why a random brain break works better than the same three you always reach for
Every teacher has three go-to brain breaks, and every class has memorized them. Here's the classroom-management case for drawing a random reset instead — plus timing strategies for after lunch, mid-lesson, and before a test.
- A spelling list that never repeats the same 20 words
Recycling the same spelling list gives an unfair edge to whoever studied it last time. Here's a routine — a timed daily warmup, a no-repeat weekly draw you can export and print, and matching grade band to real ability — that keeps spelling practice fresh all year.
- Running a category sprint: the outburst-style game that needs zero prep
Name as many pizza toppings, cities, or 90s cartoons as you can before the clock runs out. Here's how a category sprint timer works, which category pack to pick for your crowd, and how to turn one round into a full party game.
- Scattergories without the arguments: fair letters, honest answers, and a timer that ends it
Scattergories lives or dies on three things: a letter nobody can call rigged, categories everyone can actually answer, and a clock that stops the round before the table starts negotiating. Here's how to run it cleanly with just a phone.