Charades
Act out a movie, book or song without saying a word while your team shouts guesses before time runs out.
the best bit: your quietest friend miming “Jaws” with total commitment
- Players
- 4–20 (best with 6–12)
- Time
- 20–60 min
- Learn in
- Seconds
- Mood
- Rowdy
- Format
- Teams
The 30-second version
Split into two teams. One player gets a secret title from the other team and acts it out with no talking at all, while their own team races to guess it before the timer runs out. Then the other team takes a turn.
honestly, just read this out and go.
Grab these
Set up
- Split into two teams.
- Each team quietly comes up with a few titles for the other team to act out: movies, books, songs and TV shows everyone has heard of.
How to play
-
Get your title
One player from Team A walks over to Team B, who whisper a title to them.
-
Show the category
Face your team and mime the kind of title: crank an old film camera for a movie, open your hands like a book, sing silently for a song.
-
Count the words
Hold up fingers for how many words are in the title. To act out a single word, hold up fingers for which word it is first.
-
Act it out
Start a two-minute timer. Act out the title with no words, no sounds and no mouthing. Nod hard and point when someone gets close.
-
Switch
Guessed it, or out of time? Team B sends someone to Team A for a title. Keep alternating until everyone has had a turn.
How to win
Every title guessed in time is a point. The team with the most points wins.
From experience…
- Tug your ear for "sounds like", then act out a word that rhymes.
- Pinch your thumb and finger together for a little word like "the" or "a". Your team can usually fill those in.
- Pick titles that are hard but fair. The fun is the performance, not watching someone stand there stumped.