- Score sheets
- Word and party games
- Scattergories
How to score Scattergories
When the timer runs out, read the answers aloud. Every answer nobody else wrote scores 1 point, and one whose words both start with the letter scores 2. Play two rounds; the highest total wins. Keep it on the free score sheet below, or let the Scorepad add it up.
- 2 to 6 players
- A letter, a list, a timer
- Two rounds
- Highest total wins
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live. Each hand is a round. Tap any round to change it.
Scattergories
A party game where everyone races a timer to fill a list of categories with answers starting with the rolled letter, and only the answers nobody else wrote score.
Year from BoardGameGeek.
How to play Scattergories, in brief
Roll a letter, flip the timer, and race to write an answer for every category on your list that starts with that letter. Only answers nobody else wrote score, and after two rounds the highest total wins.
- Hand out foldersEach player takes a folder, an answer sheet and a pencil, and everyone uses the same category list.
- Roll and start the timerRoll the 20-sided letter die, call out the letter, and flip the sand timer.
- Write your answersEach answer must fit its category and start with the letter (a, an and the don’t count). You can write up to 3 per category, but never one answer twice in a round.
- Read them aloudWhen time runs out, pens down. Go through the list one category at a time, then roll a new letter for round 2.
Only the answers nobody else had.
Nothing scores until the timer stops. Then you go through the list one category at a time, and a good answer scores only if it is yours alone.
What an answer is worth
| Answer | Points |
|---|---|
| An answer nobody else wroteIt has to fit the category and start with the letter | 1 |
| An answer whose words both start with the letterBig Bird, for B | 2 |
| An answer someone else also wroteNobody who wrote it scores it | 0 |
| A blank, or an answer that does not fitA challenged answer goes to a vote | 0 |
- Read the answers aloudWhen the timer runs out, go category by category, each player reading their answer in turn.
- Cross out the matchesAn answer two or more players wrote scores nothing for any of them.
- Settle the challengesAnyone can challenge an answer. Everyone votes and the majority rules; on a tie, the challenged player’s own vote does not count.
- Score what is left1 point for each answer still standing, 2 for one whose words both start with the letter.
- Play two roundsRoll a new letter for round 2 and use the same list. The highest total after two rounds wins, and a tie plays a third round.
Round 2: Dev pulls away.
Four players, a list of 12 categories, and the letter B. Round 1 ended You 6, Mara 7, Dev 8, Priya 5. This is round 2, hand 2 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Answers that score | Round |
|---|---|---|
| You | 7 answers nobody else wrote; Bagel matched Mara’s7 at 1 point each | 7 |
| Mara | 5 answers nobody else wrote; Bagel matched yours5 at 1 point each | 5 |
| Dev | 7 answers nobody else wrote, and Big Bird for a TV character7 + 2 | 9 |
| Priya | 4 answers nobody else wrote, and Bubble bath and Banana bread4 + 2 + 2 | 8 |
Two rounds, one number each.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. The table judges the answers. Type each player’s score for every round, and Tabletales adds up the totals.
- Every round gets a rowKeep Highest wins (every new game starts there) and switch to By hand. Each round is a numbered hand, and the TOTAL line adds them.
- Doubles on the keypadType each round’s score, or count your answers and add 2 for each alliterative one (7 + 2), and Tabletales adds it up.
- A tie plays onHasbro plays a third round on a tie, so add it as hand 3.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo of the answer sheets. Each game gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and who holds the high score.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Scattergories, with its scores
Common Scattergories scoring mistakes
- Scoring a matched answerAn answer someone else also wrote is worth 0 to everyone who wrote it.
- Counting a, an or the as the first wordThe first real word has to start with the letter.
- Missing the doubleAn answer whose words both start with the letter scores 2, not 1.
Scattergories scoring, answered
- How do you score Scattergories?
- Each acceptable answer that no other player wrote scores 1 point, and an answer whose words both start with the letter, like Big Bird for B, scores 2. Add up each round; the highest total wins.
- How many rounds are in Scattergories?
- Hasbro’s current rules play two rounds, each with a new letter and the same category list, and a tie plays a third round. Wikipedia describes the game in sets of three rounds.
- What if two players write the same answer in Scattergories?
- Neither scores it. A matching answer is worth 0 to every player who wrote it, however good it is.
Scattergories score sheet
Print one for the table: six players and ten rounds, with a running total beside each round and the scoring at the bottom. Play two rounds a game, and a third on a tie.
Score another game
Rules differ: Wikipedia describes the game in sets of three rounds, and a variation that gives 1 point for each word of a proper noun that starts with the letter, so a three-word name could score 3. This page follows Hasbro’s 2016 rules: two rounds, and 2 for an alliterative answer. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Hasbro’s instructions (2016) and Wikipedia. Scattergories is a trademark of Hasbro. Tabletales is not affiliated with Hasbro, and this score sheet is our own design.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
