Charades is a classic word-guessing party game. One player — the actor — silently acts out a word or phrase using only gestures and body language, while their team races to guess it before the timer runs out. No speaking, no sound effects, and no pointing at real objects in the room. It is one of the oldest party games in the world and needs almost nothing to play: just people, a list of words, and a timer.
This guide covers the standard team rules most groups use, plus the signals, tips, and variations that make a round fly. When you are ready, the generator handles the word list, the no-repeat shuffle, and the timer for you — so you can skip straight to the acting.
The standard team game most groups use. House rules are encouraged — agree on them before you start.
Divide players into two roughly even teams. Decide who acts first — youngest player is a friendly tie-breaker. Teams alternate turns throughout the game.
The acting player draws a word their own team has not seen. With the generator, just tap "New word" and keep the screen hidden from your team until the timer starts.
Flip the timer on. The actor mimes the word using gestures only — no talking, no lip-syncing the word, no pointing at objects in the room, and no spelling letters in the air.
Only the actor’s own team may guess, calling out answers freely until they land on the word or the timer hits zero.
A correct guess before time runs out scores a point for that team. Tap "Got it!" to lock it in and pass the phone to the next player.
Play passes to the other team. Continue for a set number of rounds, or until you run out of time or words — then tally the points.
One point per word guessed in time. Play a fixed number of rounds (10 is a good default) or set a target score — first team to 15 wins. For a faster game, give each correct guess a point and each "pass" a point to the other team.
Before you act the word itself, these silent cues tell your team how to read your clues. Agree on them up front and rounds get dramatically faster.
Hold up fingers for how many words are in the phrase.
Hold up fingers again to show which word you’re acting (e.g. two fingers = word two).
Lay that many fingers on your forearm.
Cup a hand behind your ear, then act out a rhyming word.
Pinch thumb and finger close together for short words like “a,” “the,” or “of.”
Sweep both arms wide to say “act out the entire idea at once.”
Mime cranking an old film camera beside your head.
Hold both palms open like a book.
Open your mouth and sway as if singing.
Tap your nose to tell guessers “yes — you got that part exactly right.”
Roll your hands forward to say “you’re close, stretch the word.”
Wave a hand back over your shoulder to signal something already happened.
Charades rewards clear communication more than great acting. A few habits make every round faster.
Once everyone knows the basics, change one rule and the whole game feels new.
Drop the timer to 30 seconds and play as many words as you can in five minutes. Chaotic and hilarious.
Flip it: the whole team acts together while one person guesses. Great for big, energetic groups.
No teams. Everyone takes turns acting for the whole room — first to shout the answer keeps the phone.
Ban the hand signals entirely. Pure miming, much harder, very funny.
Lock everyone to one deck — Movies for film buffs, Christmas for the holidays, Kids for family night.
Run several short games and track a running score across the night. Crown a champion.
The generator’s difficulty tiers map cleanly to who’s playing.
Stick to the Easy tier and the Kids and Animals decks. Allow gentle sound effects and pointing — fun beats strict rules at this age.
Medium words and most decks work well. Introduce the hand signals and the no-talking rule. 90-second timers ease the pressure.
Hard tier, full rules, 60-second timers. The Movies and Adults decks land best with older players who get the references.
