How to Customize Scattergories
"Scattergories" is a board game originally produced by Milton Bradley in 1988. The game requires players to come up with words based on specific letters and themes within a certain amount of time. The "Scattergories" game comes with themed game cards but you are not limited by those cards. With a little creativity and inspiration, you can create your own game cards and customize your game.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
With the Game
-
1
Cover the words on a category card with correction fluid, such as is commonly used for photocopies.
-
2
Use a copy machine to make copies of your category card. If you have a computer and a scanner, you can scan the category card onto your computer and print out copies. You will need a separate category card for each person playing the game, so print extras.
-
-
3
Fill in the categories as you see fit. For best results, each category card should have a theme. Themes can be food, animals, sports, television or anything that interests you. For example, if your category card theme is "Food," you can create categories such as "Seafood," "Meat," "Dairy Products" and "Vegetables." The categories are up to you. Use your imagination.
-
4
Use your custom category cards in place of the category cards that come with the "Scattergories" game.
Without the Game
-
5
Create an answer sheet with the numbers 1 through 10 listed, each with a line next to the number. You can draw the answer sheets by hand or use a graphics editing program on your computer to create and print your answer sheets.
-
6
Create category cards using the method mentioned in the "With the Game" section.
-
7
Create an alphabet die by purchasing a 20-sided die from a gaming or craft store, filling in the crevices with putty or glue, painting it white and then drawing your desired letters on it. You can also purchase keyboard letter stickers from most office supply stores which, depending on the size of your die, can be used instead of hand-drawn letters. You will only have 20 sides to your die, so leave out uncommon letters, such as "X" and "Y," for best results.
-
8
Play the game following the typical game rules. Use the die to determine the letter, the category cards to determine the topics and a timer to time the answers. Stopwatches and kitchen timers work well for timing "Scattergories" rounds.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Challenge players by rolling a different letter for each category rather than for each theme.
Be creative with your custom themes. If players are interested in science, focus on topics such as "Biology," "Chemistry" or "Physics." If players are interested in the outdoors, focus on topics such as "Camping," "Outdoor Sports" or "Extreme Weather." Customize your categories to fit the group of players.
References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
