Category Clues hire · a big-screen game
One team-mate sees the word on screen and has to describe it; their partner has to guess it. Six words a round, a clock ticking down on the big screen, and one rule that ruins everyone: you cannot say the word, or anything that rhymes with it.
The rule that ruins everyone: you cannot say the word, or anything that rhymes with it.
How a round plays
A pyramid of categories to choose from, a bonus round for a brave team, and a room that laughs harder at the describing than the guessing.
Choose from the pyramid of six categories on the board, the office, British weather, famous duos and more.
One player describes each word without saying it, their partner guesses. Passing is allowed; panicking is inevitable.
Six words against a live sixty-second timer on the big screen, with a point for every one guessed.
A team that fancies its chances can gamble on a bonus round for double points.
On the big screen
Every screen on this page is my own software running live, captured at the size a projector throws. It is one of nine big-screen games in the same app, run from a phone in my hand at the microphone, with the sound, the strikes and the scores built in.
Three ways to play
Every game I run can be played three ways, and I pick the way that suits the room, the timings and the layout on the night: as a show at the front, table against table, or with every single guest playing on their own phone. Mix them across an evening and nobody spends the night watching.
As a show
One team-mate sees the word on the big screen and describes it; their partner guesses. Six words, sixty seconds, no saying the word. The room laughs harder at the describing than the guessing, and a bonus round for double points tempts the confident pairs.
Best for: awards nights and away daysAt the tables
Each table picks a describer who faces away from the screen, and the whole table guesses as one. Every table plays the same six words at once against the same clock, so the room is a wall of frantic describing. Points by table, bonus round for the brave.
Best for: conference dinners and team daysOn the app
On phones one person at the front describes and the whole room types its guess; the fastest correct answers score through the Play Along engine. Three hundred people trying to guess spreadsheet
from the thing Dave loves
is a room worth being in.
Built for the room
I customise every game for the audience in front of me: the questions, the answers, and the way I present them. The same format is a completely different show for a room of graduates in their twenties and a room of chief executives, and it should be. I write for the people who will actually be there, then I speak into the listening on the night: I read what the room is giving back and change gear to match it.
procurementto the head of marketing is a bonding exercise nobody signed up for.
Send me the year’s stories, the in-jokes, the departments and the industry. The rounds are built from them, so the answers land in a way no off-the-shelf pack ever can.
The words on the screen are half of it. How I present them is the rest, and I pitch the pace, the teasing and the tone to the room that has turned up, not the one on the brief.
Eight hundred events across festivals, awards, conferences and dinners means I have hosted every kind of room. If the mood is not what anyone expected, I change the style on the spot, and often the questions too.
In the running order
Early, as the icebreaker with a laugh in it, or as the energiser after lunch at a conference.
A minute a turn plus the bonus round. Eight pairs is a lively fifteen minutes.
Run it back to back with a scavenger hunt and the new-found teams keep working together.
“Two people who barely know each other, working as a team under a clock. It mixes departments faster than any icebreaker I have ever seen.”
All sixteen games
Five rounds the whole room plays on their phones, nine big-screen games with teams at the board, and two that need no screen at all: a phone on a forehead, and a coin. The screen games are all my own software, run from one screen, so I can switch format the moment the room needs a lift. Tap any game to see exactly how it plays.
Vote with the room, score for matching it
How it plays →On your phone
Three stories, one true, the room decides
How it plays →On your phone
A knockout quiz down to the last few standing
How it plays →On your phone
Play money on what happens next on stage
How it plays →On your phone
Everyone answers, the lowest scores are cut
How it plays →Big screen
Two teams, one survey board, three strikes
How it plays →Big screen
Categories, buzzers and picture rounds
How it plays →Big screen
Higher or lower on a row of giant cards
How it plays →Big screen
Fill the gap, match the room’s funniest answers
How it plays →Big screen
A hidden phrase, one letter at a time
How it plays →Big screenThis pageDescribe it without saying it, against the clock
You are hereBig screen
The whole room up, hunting and mixing
How it plays →Big screen
The conveyor belt of prizes to remember
How it plays →Big screen
Rave bingo with dance breaks and forfeits
How it plays →No screen needed
Charades with a phone on your forehead, table against table
How it plays →No screen needed
One coin, the whole room on its feet, one winner
How it plays →Almost all of these can be played as a show, at the tables or on the app, and the questions are written around your company before the night. Not sure which mix suits your event? Tell me the room and I will suggest a running order.
What’s included
It is the game that turns two colleagues into a team in sixty seconds, and it is very funny to watch, which keeps the rest of the room hooked between turns. Run it back to back with a scavenger hunt and you have an away day that actually gets people talking.
What clients say
Kevin recently hosted a company corporate event and proved to be the consummate professional throughout the evening. He has the unique ability to read a room and keep everyone happy.
Kevin hosted our staff conference event this year which was fantastic. He brought an energy and enthusiasm with him and played a really important part in getting people engaged in the day.
Thank you Kevin for hosting our Christmas party in December 2025. The team had an amazing time. We really liked the intertwining of awards and the game. Everyone had a brilliant time and Kevin was fantastic.
Good to know
Two team-mates play each turn, one describing, one guessing, while the room watches the clock.
Yes, product names, department in-jokes and industry terms all make great describe-it words.
The fun is in the pressure, not the difficulty, the words are approachable; the clock is what makes it.
An optional gamble for double points, for a team that fancies its chances.
Yes. Every game I run can be played three ways: as a show with teams at the front, table against table, or with every guest on their own phone through Play Along. I pick the mix that suits your room and the running order, and I often use all three in one night.
Fees are quoted individually for the date, the venue and the length of the show. Send the numbers and the running order and I will send a quote.
Enquiries
Tell me about your event and I will tailor Category Clues to your guests. Hosted right across the UK.
