Rate it

2–8 players
30 squares to the finish
60 s writing, 20 s guessing
over 60 categories

Rate it inverts the estimation idea. Instead of guessing a number about the world, you guess a number inside someone else's head. They are secretly given a digit from 1 to 10 and a category, and have to write down something that carries exactly that value for them. What comes out often says more about the person than about the answer.

How a round works

One player is up. They get a category that everyone can see — "holiday destination", "film genre" or "personality trait", for example.
Only they see the number. A random digit from 1 to 10. 1 means "terrible", 10 means "the best there is".
60 seconds to write. They type a word or short answer that carries exactly that value for them. For "holiday destination" and the number 9 that might be "Iceland". For the number 2, perhaps "a gravel pit".
20 seconds to guess. Everyone else enters which number from 1 to 10 they think was meant.
The reveal. The number is uncovered, then the pieces move.

Scoring

Distance from the secret number	Squares
exactly right	+3
off by 1	+2
off by 2	+1
further off, or no answer	0

Nobody moves backwards. And here is the decisive rule: the player whose turn it is always scores as much as the best guess of the round. If someone nails the number exactly, they get +3 too. If nobody gets close, they get nothing.

That flips the motivation. The player up front does not want to be cryptic, they want to be understood — by the right people. An answer everyone can place instantly earns three squares for you and three for them. One nobody understands earns nothing at all.

The board

Rate it runs over 30 squares. There are no slides and no betting squares — the way up is decided purely by understanding and being understood. First to the top wins.

The categories

More than sixty of them, cycled through without short-term repeats. They range from harmless to personal:

Everyday: job, sport, weekday, month, season, weather, school subject, supermarket, time of day, spice, pastry

Taste: music genre, film genre, musician, TV series, film, video game, board game, streaming service, car brand, clothing brand, sports brand

Personal: personality trait, birthplace, dream for the future, an experience of your own, a childhood experience, hobby with friends, place for a date, gift idea

Tips

Think about the group, not about yourself

The question is not what you think of something, it is what the others would expect of you. If you know the room considers you a neat freak, factor that in.

The extremes are easiest

1 and 10 are recognised most reliably, because unambiguously great and unambiguously awful answers are easy to find. 5 and 6 are the hardest numbers in the game.

When guessing, read the person, not the category

The same answer means two different numbers coming from two different people. Knowing the person is a real advantage here — which is exactly why Rate it is funniest in a group that knows each other well.

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