Shtet Qytet — the Country–City game
Shtet Qytet is the Albanian name for a game almost every country plays under a different one. Someone calls out a letter, and everybody races to write a country, a city, a name, an animal and an object that all begin with it. First one finished stops the round.
The scoring is what makes it: you get more points for an answer nobody else thought of. Being fast matters, but being unusual matters more.
The rules
- Agree the categories. The classic five are country (shtet), city (qytet), name, animal and object.
- Draw a letter. One player runs through the alphabet silently until someone says stop, or the app picks a random letter.
- Fill every column. Everyone writes one answer per category, all starting with that letter.
- Stop the round. The first player to fill every category calls stop, and everyone else must put their pen down immediately.
- Score together. Read the answers out one category at a time and award points as below.
Scoring
| Answer | Points |
|---|---|
| A valid answer nobody else wrote | 10 |
| A valid answer someone else also wrote | 5 |
| Everyone wrote the same answer | 5 (some groups play 0) |
| No answer, or an invalid one | 0 |
Play to a fixed number of rounds — usually ten, one per letter — and add up the totals. The 10-versus-5 split is the whole strategy: writing Portugal for P is safe, but everybody writes Portugal. Paraguay is worth double.
Which letters to use
Skip the letters that make the game unpleasant. In English that usually means X, Y, Q and Z, though groups that keep Q find it produces the funniest arguments. Do not reuse a letter within the same game.
Category ideas beyond the classic five
- Food or drink
- Film or TV series
- Something in this room
- Job or profession
- Body part
- Brand
- Something you would pack for a holiday
- Musician or band
- Word that would annoy your teacher
Five categories keeps a round to about a minute. Seven is the practical maximum before the group loses patience with the scoring.
Settling arguments
- Agree in advance whether cities need to be capitals. They do not, in the standard game — but half of all Shtet Qytet arguments start here.
- Proper nouns only where the category asks for one. Countries, cities and names are proper nouns; animals and objects are not.
- One answer per box. Writing two answers to hedge scores zero for that category.
- The group votes on disputes. Majority decides, and the player being challenged does not vote.
The same game, in other languages
If you learned this game somewhere else, you probably know it by another name. It is the same game everywhere — the categories shift slightly with the language.
| Language | Name | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Shtet Qytet | Si luhet Shtet Qytet |
| German | Stadt Land Fluss | Stadt Land Fluss spielen |
| Italian | Nomi Cose Città | Come si gioca a Nomi Cose Città |
| Spanish | Tutti Frutti / Basta | Cómo jugar a Tutti Frutti |
| French | Le Petit Bac | Comment jouer au Petit Bac |
| Turkish | İsim Şehir Hayvan | İsim Şehir Hayvan nasıl oynanır |
Play it free in WinkRoom
WinkRoom is a free party game app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Start a private room, share the 6-digit code, and everyone joins from their own phone — guests do not need an account.
Impostor, Mafia, Shtet Qytet, Truth or Dare, Never Have I Ever, One Word Unites, Wrong Answers Only and Synonyms are all in the app, and new packs are added over time.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Shtet Qytet?
- Shtet Qytet is a category word game: a letter is drawn and every player races to name a country, a city, a person's name, an animal and an object starting with that letter. It is called Stadt Land Fluss in German, Nomi Cose Città in Italian and Tutti Frutti in much of Latin America.
- How do you score Shtet Qytet?
- Ten points for a valid answer nobody else wrote, five points if someone else wrote the same answer, and zero for a blank or an answer the group rejects. Play about ten rounds and total the scores.
- How many players can play Shtet Qytet?
- Two upwards. It works with a pair, is best with three to six, and stays playable at eight — beyond that, reading out every answer takes longer than the round itself.
- Does the city have to be a capital?
- No. In the standard game any real city counts. Agree it before you start, though — it is the single most common argument in the game.
- Can you play Shtet Qytet on your phone?
- Yes. WinkRoom includes it free on iPhone, iPad and Android — the app draws the letter, runs the timer and scores the round, so nobody has to argue about who finished first.