The game also includes tiles, one for each letter of the alphabet, a five-minute sand timer, and scorecards.

Before the timer runs out, players must write down at most one entry for each category/beginning-letter pair (thus, a maximum of 25 answers).

Five rounds make up a complete game, with scoring based on the number of valid answers given.

Onanian got the idea for Facts in Five after reading in the newspaper supplement This Week that Categories was the favorite word game of the recently deceased President John F.

In 1976, 3M divested its game business to Avalon Hill of Baltimore, which published it until 1998, when it disbanded.