List Rush is a free online Scattergories-style word game: everyone gets the same letter and the same list of categories, then races the clock to fill it in — and only the answers nobody else writes actually score.
What is Scattergories?
Scattergories is a classic party word game. Players are given a list of categories and one randomly chosen letter, then race to name something in each category that starts with that letter. The twist is the scoring — you only earn points for answers no one else writes down, so matching another player cancels you both out. That's what the name has come to mean: a fast, funny category game where the real goal is the answer everyone else misses. List Rush brings that same idea online, with nothing to buy, set up, or install — just a shared link and a browser.
How to play
Starting a game of online Scattergories in List Rush takes only a few seconds:
- Create a room and share the link with your friends or coworkers.
- Everyone gets the same random letter and the same list of categories.
- When the round starts, fill each category with an answer that begins with that letter — a Movie for M, a Food for F, an Animal for A, and so on.
- Submit before the timer hits zero. Anything left blank scores nothing, so it pays to keep moving.
- Answers are compared: unique answers score, and anything another player also wrote is cancelled out.
- Play several rounds with new letters, and the highest total at the end wins.
How long is the timer?
A classic Scattergories round lasts about two to three minutes — that's roughly how long the tabletop game's sand timer runs before everyone has to drop their pens. List Rush keeps each round just as short and punchy, but the clock is automatic: everyone races the same on-screen countdown, and scoring happens the instant it reaches zero. No one has to flip a sand timer, watch it, or argue about when time is actually up — the game calls it and goes straight to the results.
List Rush as a Scattergories generator
Every round, List Rush deals out a fresh random letter and a new set of categories, which means it doubles as a Scattergories generator — a built-in random letter and category generator you never have to set up by hand. There are no lists to print, no letter dice to roll, and no category cards to shuffle. Just start a round and the game hands everyone the same letter and categories at once, ready to play.
How List Rush differs from classic Scattergories
List Rush isn't the boxed board game — it's an online version built for playing together fast. It's completely free and runs in the browser, with no download, no signup, and no account to create. Up to 15 people can join a single room from anywhere, so remote teams and far-flung friends play together in real time, and scoring is automatic rather than read aloud round by round. What doesn't change is the heart of Scattergories: everyone works from the same letter and the same categories, and only unique answers score. The dice, the answer pads, and the sand timer are the only things you leave behind.