Find the four groups
Sixteen cards, four hidden groups, and words that seem to belong in two places. A five-minute icebreaker that starts arguments.
When to use it
The first five minutes of a team meeting or training day, played in pairs so people have to talk it through. A round at a quiz night or a staff social. A vocabulary lesson on words with more than one meaning, where the arguing is the learning.
What makes it this
Built on the Categorize generator with these changed. Everything else is the default.
- Sorting game
Drag & drop gives every category a box to drop cards into. Connections shows one grid of cards and players pick out the sets that belong together.
In the builder: How it plays › How players sort
- Unlimited attempts Off
Off, the puzzle locks once a player has used up the wrong answers allowed below.
In the builder: Timing & attempts › Attempts & answers
- Wrong answers allowed
How many wrong answers a player gets before the puzzle locks.
In the builder: Timing & attempts › Attempts & answers
Preview
View only — copy it to play.Sixteen Words, Four Connections
16 cards
Why the example is built this way
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Build the groups on meanings, not topics.
Give every group at least one word that seems to fit another group too. A player who sorts by first instinct ends up one word short in two places, and that's the puzzle.
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Four wrong answers in a row, not in total.
With Unlimited attempts off, the puzzle locks after the number set in Wrong answers allowed, but every correct group resets the count. Four is the number this kind of puzzle is known for.
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Short words, and names that explain the twist.
Four cards sit across each row, so keep every word short. A group's name only appears once the group is solved, so use it to say what the connection was.
Build it yourself
- 1 Open the Categorize builder and fill in the Categories & cards tab.
- 2 Change the settings under What makes it this. Each one says where it is in the builder.
- 3 Share the link with your players, or embed the activity in your own site.
Or skip the building: copy this example and swap in your own content.