How to play charades

One player acts out a word without speaking; their team has to guess it before time runs out. That is the whole game — the details below settle the arguments.

Skip the rules — play now

The basic rules

Split into two or more teams. Teams take turns; in each turn one player acts.
The actor gets a word or phrase and shows it without talking, mouthing words, pointing at objects or spelling.
Their team shouts guesses. Every correct guess scores a point; a turn usually lasts 60 seconds.
The actor may skip a word that is impossible. Most groups do not take a point away for skips.
After every team has had a turn, a round is over. Play 3 rounds or to a target score.

The classic signals

Movie: crank an old-fashioned camera. Book: open your hands like a book. Song: sing silently. TV show: draw a rectangle in the air.
Number of words: hold up fingers. Then hold up one finger again to say which word you are on.
Syllables: lay fingers on your forearm. Sounds like: tug your earlobe.
Small word (a, the, of): hold thumb and finger close together. Close!: wave the guesser on with both hands.

Scoring with CharadeBox

The phone scores for you: tap Got it for every word guessed, Skip to move on. When time runs out you see the turn’s words and can fix a mis-tap before the points count. After the last round the winner is shown on the scoreboard.

The drawing variant

Same rules, but the player draws instead of acting — no letters or numbers. In CharadeBox choose Draw to play on the phone screen, or Mix to alternate both. Words picked for drawing are on the drawing game page.

Play by these rules now

Split into teams, pass one phone around. The phone times every turn and keeps the score.

Rules people argue about

Can you make sounds in charades?

Traditionally no — no words, no sounds. Some family groups allow animal noises for small kids; agree before you start.

Can you point at things in the room?

Not in strict rules: pointing at a real clock to show “clock” is too easy. Pointing at yourself or your team is fine.

How long should a turn be?

60 seconds is the usual choice. For kids or hard decks use 90 seconds; for a fast party round, 30–45.

What if two teams are tied?

Play one more turn each with a hard word — sudden death. Or call it a tie and play again.