How to Play
Learn it in a minute.
One letter. A handful of categories. A ticking clock.
Two ways to play
Pass-and-Play
Everyone shares one device and takes turns on the same letter. Highest total after 5 rounds wins.
Solo Practice
Sharpen your speed with no pressure. Every approved answer scores 10.
How a game flows
Step 1
Pick your categories
Choose 5–10 categories from searchable groups — or add your own, saved right on your device.
Step 2
A letter is drawn
Each of the 5 rounds gets a fresh letter. Q, X and Z are off by default, and letters don't repeat until the pool runs out.
Step 3
45 seconds per turn
On your turn, fill in an answer for every category that starts with the letter. When time's up, pass the device.
Step 4
Review the answers
NOMINA checks answers offline and is forgiving with spelling. Anything it doesn't recognise is marked Needs Review — the group approves or rejects it.
Approving can rescue an answer the word list didn't know — but never a blank, a wrong starting letter, or a duplicate.
Example round
Illustrative onlyLetter B, two players, pass-and-play.
| Category | Ava | Ben |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit | Banana5 pts · shared | Banana5 pts · shared |
| City | Berlin10 pts · unique | Boston10 pts · unique |
| Animal | Bumblebee10 pts · approved in review | —0 pts · blank |
| Food | —0 pts · blank | Pear0 pts · wrong letter |
| Round total | 25 | 15 |
"Bumblebee" wasn't in the word list, so it went to review and the group approved it. "Pear" starts with the wrong letter, so it can never be approved.
Scoring
Valid & unique
Nobody else said it
Valid & shared
Someone matched you
Invalid or blank
Better luck next letter
Ties. Tied on points? The player with the lowest total time across their five turns wins — time runs from the start of your turn until you tap "I'm done", and running out of time counts as the full 45 seconds. Still tied on time too? Everyone tied shares the victory.
Built-in categories
Classic
- Name
- Animal
- Food
- Place
- Thing
Automotive
- Car Make
- Car Model
- Car Make/Model
Fashion
- Fashion Brand
- Clothing Item
- Shoe Brand
- Accessory
Beauty
- Beauty Brand
Food & Drink
- Fruit
- Vegetable
- Drink
- Dessert
Nature
- Flower
Entertainment
- Movie
- TV Show
- Singer
- Celebrity
- Song
- Book
General Knowledge
- Color
- Country
- City
- Profession
- Sport
Business
- Company/Brand