How to play charades

How to play

You need: a timer and a list of words, or one phone.

1. Split into two teams and pick a time limit, usually one minute per turn.
2. The actor reads a word in secret and acts it out. No sounds, no words, no pointing at things in the room.
3. Their team shouts out guesses. A right guess scores a point and the actor goes to the next word.
4. When time runs out, the other team takes a turn with a new actor.
5. Play an agreed number of rounds; the team with more points wins.

Rules

• No talking, mouthing words or spelling letters in the air.
• Gestures for the number of words and syllables are allowed if both teams agree.
• An actor may skip a word, but it scores nothing.
• Only the actor's team guesses during their turn.

Variants

Phone on the forehead

The guesser holds the phone to their forehead and the group acts or describes the word they cannot see.

Everyone acts

No teams: one actor, everyone guesses, and the first right guess scores for both the guesser and the actor.

Speed round

30 seconds per turn and as many words as you can. Good for big groups.

Tips to play better

• Start with the big idea: is it an animal, an action or a person? Then add details.
• Use the whole body. Bigger gestures read faster than small hand signs.
• Skip fast. A word that is not landing in ten seconds costs more than it is worth.
• Pick easy words for a mixed group and save the hard ones for players who know the game.