The best categories to play with
The category you pick changes the game more than any other setting. A broad category protects the imposter; a narrow one exposes them. Here is our guide by group type.
Starting out: Animals or Food
These are the most playable categories: everyone has plenty of vocabulary and clues come naturally. For first-time groups, start here. The imposter has room to manoeuvre because the word space is huge.
Seasoned groups: Places and Professions
These demand sharper clues. "Beach" and "airport" share many associations (sand/luggage, summer/travel), so innocents have to thread the needle to avoid giving the word away, and the imposter can survive several rounds on atmosphere alone.
For the laughs: Movies and Activities
Clues become interpretive, and that is where the room cracks up. Tip: enable "show hint to imposter" for these categories — improvising about a film you cannot identify is nearly impossible.
The most overlooked setting
The imposter count. With 7 or more players, try two: the dynamic changes completely because imposters can build on each other's clues (turn on "imposters know each other" to see it shine... or keep it off for total chaos).
Our favourite setup for 6
- Category: Places
- 1 imposter, category visible, no hint
- Two clue rounds, the second one faster than the first