The Three Rules
A good spectrum passes three tests. First, the two ends must be clear oppositesso everyone instantly understands the scale — "Cheap" to "Expensive" works; "Cheap" to "Blue" does not. Second, it needs to be a continuum, not a yes/no — lots of things should be able to land anywhere along the line, which is what gives the Psychic room to be clever. Third, it should be familiar to your whole group, so no one is left without a reference point. Hit all three and you have a keeper.
A Simple Formula
The easiest starting point is "Bad X" to "Good X." Bad Movie / Good Movie, Bad Gift / Good Gift, Bad Pet / Good Pet. It works because everyone can rank examples of almost any category. From there, graduate to adjective pairs ("Boring / Exciting," "Stressful / Relaxing") and then to opinion spectrums ("Overrated / Underrated"), which are the most debate-worthy of all. If you are stuck, pick any noun your group cares about and ask: what is the most obvious way to rank it from one extreme to the other?
Pitfalls to Avoid
A few things quietly break a spectrum. Avoid ends that are not truly opposite, because guessers will not agree on the scale. Avoid binary concepts with no middle, since there is nothing to guess. And avoid anything where your specific group would violently disagree on the definitionof the ends — if half the table means something different by "fancy," every guess will scatter. The goal is a scale everyone reads the same way, even if they place individual things differently.
Make Them Personal
The best custom prompts are the ones tuned to your people. A spectrum built around your friend group's running jokes, your office's culture, or your family's habits turns an ordinary round into a highlight. "Something Grandma would say" to "Something Grandma would never say" is gold at a family game night and meaningless anywhere else. Lean into that. For ready-made packs to remix, browse our prompt idea library.