Pick a theme with room inside it
“Things in a kitchen” offers ingredients, tools and appliances. “Types of whisk” is much narrower: most players will struggle to give distinct clues. Choose a theme with enough variety for repeated rounds and enough common ground that nobody needs a lesson first.
Spiono supports custom packs. You do not need to recreate an existing category; a shared holiday, a favourite genre or objects from your workplace can work when everyone knows the references.
Start with this 20-word pack
Here is an everyday kitchen pack you can use as a model. It mixes familiar objects and foods without depending on a brand or specialist cooking technique.
- Kettle
- Toaster
- Fridge
- Oven
- Microwave
- Pan
- Spoon
- Fork
- Plate
- Mug
- Whisk
- Colander
- Apron
- Tea towel
- Chopping board
- Toast
- Pancake
- Egg
- Butter
- Honey
Run the three-clue test
For each word, think of three different connections. “Kettle” might suggest morning, steam and switch. “Colander” could suggest drain, holes and pasta. If you can think only of a near-synonym, the prompt may be too narrow or unfamiliar.
Check that the clues are not all one description in disguise. “Hot”, “warm” and “heated” do not give three independent angles. Use purpose, texture, sound, setting or a common experience instead.
Remove traps before the first round
- Near-duplicates: cup and mug can lead to the same clues. Keep both only if that ambiguity is intentional.
- Uneven difficulty: an obscure tool among everyday objects makes one round unfairly hard.
- Private jokes: two players should not have exclusive access to the best clue.
- Personal targets: avoid prompts about someone’s body, mistakes or embarrassing stories.
A pack can be personal without making another player the subject of a joke. Shared places or activities usually work better than private incidents.
Test, then edit the pack
Play a few unscored rounds. After each reveal, ask whether the problem was a weak clue or a weak prompt. If nobody knew the word, replace it. If the word supported many clues but players were too direct, keep it and practise clue selection.
Keep a short list of replacements so a host can swap out an unfamiliar prompt privately. For more material, mix from the food, place and object lists at a similar level of familiarity.