How to play Letter Rush: name, place, animal rules and scoring

Letter Rush is the classic name, place, animal word race: a letter comes up, the clock starts, and everyone writes one word per category starting with that letter. The answer nobody else thought of scores big, the one everybody wrote scores small. This guide covers the rules, exactly how points are counted and how to finish on top.

Play Letter Rush

What is Letter Rush and how is it set up?

On paper, everyone draws columns on a sheet: Name, Place, Animal, Thing and whatever else the table agrees on. Someone silently runs through the alphabet, someone else says stop, and that letter starts the round.

On Stockboi you don’t need paper, pens or a referee. The game picks the letter, keeps time and checks answers against word lists. Online rooms use five fixed categories: Name, City, Animal, Plant and Object. In solo play you choose the categories yourself, at least 3 from Name, City, Country, Animal, Plant, Object, Job and Food.

A match lasts 5 rounds. Name means a person’s first name.

Letter Rush rules

Each round reveals a letter and starts a 60-second writing clock. Everyone writes at the same time without seeing each other’s answers.
You write one answer per category, starting with the round’s letter. Answers must be 2 to 24 letters long and made of letters; spaces and hyphens are fine.
Once every box is filled you can hit “Done!”. Everyone else then has at most 10 seconds left. If everybody finishes, the round closes right away.
When time is up, the answers are revealed and scored. Rude words don’t count and are hidden on screen.
Spelling is forgiving: capitals, accents, apostrophes and periods don’t matter, and a hyphen counts as a space. “Sea horse” and “seahorse” are the same answer.
After 5 rounds, the highest total wins. Equal totals are a draw.

How scoring works

Points are counted per category. If you’re the only player with a valid answer in that category, you get 20. If others have valid answers too but nobody wrote yours, you get 10. If someone else wrote the same answer, you get 5. Empty or invalid answers get 0.

Example: the letter is B and there are three of you. For Animal, Sam and Mia both write “bear” and Leo writes “badger”: Sam 5, Mia 5, Leo 10. For City, only Mia has a valid answer (Boston) and the others left it blank: Mia gets 20.

With two players that means: only you answered, 20 to 0; you both wrote different answers, 10 each; you wrote the same answer, 5 each. With five categories, the most you can score in a round is 100.

How answers are checked and voted on

Every answer first goes through a format check: right starting letter, sensible length, nothing rude. Then the game looks it up in that category’s word list. If it’s on the list, it’s valid.

In an online room, an answer that isn’t on the list goes to the other players for a vote: Accept or Reject. If more than half of the people who can vote say reject, it doesn’t count. No vote counts as accept, and a tie lets the answer through. In a two-player room, your opponent’s reject alone is enough.

If several players wrote the same unlisted word, there’s no vote: it’s valid for all of them.

Solo play has no voting. A word that isn’t on the category list but is a real English word still counts, at half points (10 instead of 20, 5 instead of 10, 3 instead of 5). Otherwise it scores 0.

A round, step by step

The letter appears and you get a few seconds to breathe: this round it’s P.
The clock starts. You fill the easy boxes first: Name “Paula”, City “Paris”.
For Animal, “pig” comes to mind, but so it will for everyone else, so you write “porcupine”.
You get stuck on Plant. Instead of leaving it empty you write “parsley” and move on to Object: “pillow”.
Every box is full, so you hit “Done!”. Your rivals drop to their last 10 seconds.
Answers are revealed. Unlisted ones go to a vote, points are added, and once everyone is ready the next letter comes up.

Which letters come up?

In English rooms, Q and X never come up, and Z, Y and U are very rare. Friendly starting letters such as S, C, P, B, M and A come up most often.

A letter never repeats within a match. The game also only picks letters that have at least one word on our lists in every chosen category, so you never get an impossible letter and category pair. If you’re stuck, an answer really does exist.

Tips to win at Letter Rush

Skip your first idea. With B, everyone writes “bear” for Animal. A less obvious answer you’re sure of turns 5 points into 10 or 20.
Never leave a box empty. A blank is a guaranteed 0, while a word you’re unsure of might still be valid or get accepted in the vote.
Fill easy boxes first. Name and City usually come fastest; don’t burn ten seconds on a hard category while an easy box sits empty.
Use “Done!” as a weapon. Hit it the moment you’re full and everyone else drops to 10 seconds; their empty box can become your 20.
Think beyond capitals. The City list includes many cities around the world, not just the famous ones, and the less obvious one is more likely to be yours alone.
Two-word answers are fine. Plant or object names with a space are accepted with or without it.

Common mistakes

Starting with the wrong letter. In a rush, a slip of the finger invalidates the whole answer.
Writing a one-letter answer. Every answer needs at least 2 letters.
Going off-category. A plant in the Animal box won’t be on the list; online it goes to a vote and will most likely be rejected.
Sitting on a full sheet. If all your boxes are filled, waiting only gives your rivals more time.

A short history of the name, place, animal game

This pencil-and-paper game has been played in classrooms and on long trips for generations, under different names in different countries. In English it often goes by Name, Place, Animal, Thing; in Germany it’s Stadt, Land, Fluss (city, country, river); in Turkey it’s İsim Şehir, which is what Letter Rush is called on the Turkish side of Stockboi.

The categories change from table to table, but the heart of it has always been the same: one letter, a ticking clock and the thrill of finding the answer nobody else did.

How to play Letter Rush on Stockboi

Play with friends: create a room for 2 to 8 players and drop the link in your group chat. The host starts when everyone’s in. Empty seats can be filled with BOTs, always clearly labeled.
With random players: join a table with people playing right now.
Vs computer: play against one computer opponent and choose the categories and difficulty yourself. Easy is slow, leaves some boxes empty and never hits Done; Medium and Hard are quicker.
Online, you can’t see anyone’s answers until the round ends, only how many boxes they’ve filled. The review screen lasts 25 seconds if there’s something to vote on, 12 if not.
If someone drops out, a BOT writes for them until they’re back. A room plays in the language of whoever created it, so rooms made on the English site use English words. No account needed.

Frequently asked questions

How do you score name, place, animal?

Per category: 20 if you’re the only one with a valid answer, 10 if nobody else wrote yours, 5 if someone wrote the same thing. Empty or invalid answers score 0.

How many players can play Letter Rush?

Online rooms take 2 to 8 players. You can also play solo against one computer opponent.

How long is each round?

You get 60 seconds to write. If someone fills every box and hits Done, everyone else has at most 10 seconds left.

What letters are left out?

In English games Q and X never come up, and Z, Y and U are very rare. A letter never repeats within a match.

What happens if my word isn’t on the list?

Online, the other players vote on it; if more than half reject it, it doesn’t count. In solo play, a real English word that isn’t on the category list scores half points.

Do capitals or spelling details matter?

No. Capitals, accents, apostrophes and hyphens are ignored, and two-word answers count with or without the space. The starting letter does have to be right.