How to use the printable sheet
Name, Place, Animal, Thing only needs paper and pencils, but drawing columns by hand on every sheet eats into game time, and the lines never come out straight. This sheet comes ready to go: categories across the top, one row per round, a box for the letter and a box for the points. It's free, with no sign-up.
- 1Pick a category set. They're the same sets as in the Name, Place, Animal, Thing game: Classic, Family, Food lovers, Movies, TV & music, Around the world and Random mix.
- 2Or type up to 8 categories of your own. There are more than 100 ideas further down this page.
- 3Choose how many rows to print, from 5 to 15. Each row is one round: 5 makes a quick game, and 15 fills a long evening.
- 4Decide on the letter column. Fill it with random letters so nobody has to pick, or leave it blank and write in each letter as you play.
- 5Print as many copies as you need, one per player or one per team if you play in pairs, and hand everyone a pencil.
For young kids, 5 or 6 categories and 5 rows are plenty. Teens and adults can take on 8 categories and 10 rows.
Rules and scoring
If your sheet has random letters, play the letter in the next row. If the column is blank, someone calls out a letter and everyone writes it in. Then each player writes one answer per category, every answer starting with that letter. The first person to fill every box shouts Stop, and everyone else puts their pencil down, even mid-word.
Go around the table and read your answers out loud, one category at a time, and score each one:
- 10 points for an answer nobody else wrote.
- 5 points if someone else wrote the same answer.
- 0 points for a blank box or an answer the group rejects.
Write your total for the round in the points column. When the sheet is full, add up the whole column, and the highest total wins. Before the first letter, agree on a couple of things: whether words from another language count, and whether Tom and Thomas are the same answer. A good default is that if most of the table accepts an answer, it counts.
Name, Place, Animal, Thing categories
The classic columns are name, place, animal and thing, and plenty of families add food, color or job. The game gets better when you change them up, though. Here are more than 100 category ideas, grouped so you can build a sheet that suits whoever is playing. Pick 5 to 8 and type them in as your own categories.
Classic categories
First name, last name, country, city, U.S. state, animal, thing, food, color, job, sport, plant or flower, something in a house, piece of clothing.
Categories for kids
Farm animal, sea creature, bug, toy, cartoon character, candy, something in your bedroom, something at the playground, something that flies, something green, fairy tale character, animal with spots or stripes, ice cream topping, something that bounces.
For teens and adults
Brand, movie, TV show, singer or band, song, celebrity, sports team, nickname, takeout order, word borrowed from another language, gift for a gift exchange, excuse to leave a party early, vacation spot, dinner table topic, something in an office, job you'd try for a day.
Hard categories
Capital city, river, mountain or volcano, chemical element, scientist or inventor, author, painter, historical figure, dog breed, Olympic sport, currency, word with more than 8 letters, word with a double letter, something that can break.
Food categories
Sandwich filling, soup, baked good, something on a taco, spice or seasoning, cheese, tropical fruit, fast food, cake ingredient, something you eat with a spoon, family recipe, sauce or dip, something at a farmers market, picnic food.
Geography and travel
Country in Europe, country in Africa or Asia, Latin American country, state or province, island, beach, lake, city of over a million people, nationality, monument, something at an airport, souvenir.
Christmas and winter
Christmas decoration, gift, holiday food, holiday song, something in a stocking, winter clothing, something red or green, New Year's resolution, something you wrap, holiday character, kind of cookie, winter activity, family tradition.
School and classroom
School supply, school subject, verb, noun, adjective, Spanish word, endangered animal, something in space, something in a science lab, book character, recess game, word with three syllables.
Silly categories
Something that won't fit in a bag, noise you hear at night, something under the couch, thing you'd never lend, word that makes you laugh, superpower, hiding spot, something scary, Sunday plan, name for a dragon, thing every house has too many of, animal sound.
The school categories double as spelling and vocabulary practice. In December, mix three classic columns with five holiday ones and you have a game for the family party. There are more ideas for the season in Christmas games.
Hard letters and how to handle them
In English, the letters that leave a sheet half empty are Q, U, X, Y and Z, and with eight columns even V and K can stall the table. Nobody needs to ban them, but agree on a plan before the first round.
- Leave them out. If the letter column is blank, just don't call them. If a random letter comes up that your group doesn't want, cross it out and write in another.
- Give more time. An extra 30 seconds makes a hard letter fair.
- Let the letter appear anywhere in the word, not only at the start. With X, taxi and box both count.
- Make it a double round: 20 points for a unique answer and 10 for a shared one.
- Keep a few answers handy. Q: Quinn, Quebec, quail, quilt. U: Uma, Utah, umbrellabird, umbrella. X: Xavier, Xi'an, X-ray fish, xylophone. Y: Yasmin, Yemen, yak, yo-yo. Z: Zoe, Zambia, zebra, zipper.
To pick letters without an argument, use the random letter generator. The phone version of the game can also leave out the hard letters before you start.
Ways to play: teams, classrooms and video calls
In teams
Print one sheet per team instead of one per player. In teams of two or three, everyone whispers ideas and one person holds the pencil. To split the group fairly, use the random team generator.
In the classroom
Print a sheet for every student with 10 rows and categories that review the lesson, like verb, noun and adjective. In a Spanish class, write the categories in Spanish. There are more ideas in classroom games.
Over a video call
Save the sheet as a PDF and send it before the call, so everyone can print it at home or copy it onto paper. One person calls the letter and calls time. More ideas in video call games.
Against the clock
Skip the shout. Put 60 seconds on the countdown timer and everyone stops at the same moment. A 15-row sheet takes about half an hour.
Stop, Basta, Tutti Frutti: one game, many names
If your family calls it something else, the sheet works the same. Many people know it simply as Stop, after the word you shout at the end. In Mexico it's Basta, in Argentina and Uruguay it's Tutti Frutti, in Germany it's Stadt, Land, Fluss and in France it's Petit Bac. In India it's Name, Place, Animal, Thing, and in South Africa some people call it Stop the Bus. Teachers often just call it the categories game.
The shout at the end changes, but the letter, the columns and the scoring stay the same. So the same sheet doubles as a Stop game printable, a Basta sheet or a categories game sheet for class.
Play with the sheet and a phone
In the online Name, Place, Animal, Thing game, the phone spins the letter, runs the timer and keeps every player's score while everyone writes on their printed sheet. With a big group, that means nobody adds up columns at the end.
No printer? Play with the phone and any piece of paper. For more paper-and-pencil games, browse the printables, or plan a whole evening with game night.
Questions
Is the printable sheet free?
Yes. Build the sheet and print as many copies as you need, with no sign-up and nothing to pay.
Can I use my own categories?
Yes. Type up to 8 categories instead of using a ready-made set. This page lists more than 100 ideas to choose from.
How many rounds fit on one sheet?
Anywhere from 5 to 15. Each row is one round, with a box for the letter and a box for the points. Five or six rows make a quick game.
Does the sheet come with letters?
Your choice. The letter column can come filled with random letters, or blank so you write in each letter as you play.
How many copies should I print?
One per player, or one per team if you play in pairs. Print a few extras for the rematch. To keep a copy, choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialog.
How do you score Name, Place, Animal, Thing?
10 points for an answer nobody else wrote, 5 for an answer someone else also has and 0 for a blank. Write each round's total in the points column and add it up at the end.
What are good categories for Name, Place, Animal, Thing?
The classics are name, place, animal and thing, often with food, color or job. For something different, try the kids, food, hard or silly categories on this page.
Is this the same game as Stop or Basta?
Yes. Stop, Basta, Tutti Frutti and Name, Place, Animal, Thing are local names for the same traditional game, so the sheet works for all of them.