Hot Potato Word Game

What is a hot potato word game?

A hot potato word game is a party game where players take turns naming something before a hidden timer runs out. Whoever is holding the "potato", here a bomb, when time is up loses. Hot Potato Categories is our version for one shared phone or computer: a category appears, such as "Name an NBA team", the player holding the bomb types one correct answer and passes it on, and nobody knows when it will blow.

It needs no accounts and no app. Open this page, pick how many players, and pass the device around the table.

How to play the hot potato word game

1. Choose 2 to 8 players and type their names, or keep Player 1, Player 2 and so on.
2. Choose lives: 1, 2 or 3 each. Two lives is a good first game.
3. Read the category. The player shown as holding the bomb types one correct answer and presses Pass (or Enter).
4. Pass the device. The bomb moves to the next player still in the game. Answers already used in this category do not count, and a wrong answer does not pass the bomb, so think fast.
5. Boom. The fuse is hidden and random, between 12 and 35 seconds, and it keeps burning as the bomb moves round. Whoever holds it when it goes off loses a life, and a new category starts.
6. Last one standing wins.

If every answer in a category gets used before the fuse runs out, the game moves straight on to a new category.

Categories in this hot potato word game

There are 26 categories, each with at least 12 accepted answers and a checked answer list, so a fair answer is not refused and a made-up one does not slip through:

• Geography: US states and state capitals, countries in Africa and South America, EU members and their capitals, countries that border China or Russia, Canadian provinces, countries starting with M, and more.
• Sports: NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams, and Summer Olympic host cities.
• History: US presidents and the original 13 colonies.
• Science: chemical elements and elements with one-letter symbols.
• Words and culture: the NATO phonetic alphabet, the Greek alphabet, zodiac signs and the months of the year.

Typos are forgiven on longer answers, common alternative names work (Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, Burma or Myanmar), and an ambiguous name, such as "Adams" for US presidents, asks you to be more specific.

Where the idea comes from

Passing a timed object around until it goes off is an old party game. Online, the best-known word version is BombParty on JKLM.fun, where you type a word containing given letters. Krillion, the daily trivia game, added a category version called Puffer Party, where you name an answer and pass a puffer fish before it pops; our Krillion Puffer Party guide explains how it works. Hot Potato Categories is our own take for playing in one room on one device: no rooms to join, no codes, and every category has a full answer list behind it.

Tips for winning a hot potato word game

• Answer with something easy. In a hot potato word game, speed beats cleverness. The obvious answer gets the bomb out of your hands.
• But remember what has been said. Repeats do not count. The used answers are listed under the bomb, so glance before you type.
• Big categories are safer. With 118 elements or 50 states, there is always something left. In a 12-answer category, the end comes quickly.
• Do not trust the clock in your head. The fuse is random every round, so a long round tells you nothing about the next one.
• Type, then pass the phone. The game only passes the bomb when your answer is accepted, so do not hand the device over early.

For one-player daily puzzles, see our daily guessing games, or play Nobody Said That, which uses the same categories but scores you against everyone who played today.