Fishbowl and Celebrity rules

By Charades Game Ideas. Sources: Reddit, r/tipofmytongue thread "Charades party game that goes in three rounds" and r/boardgames thread "High quality charades ideas?" (both read 14 November 2026).

What the game is

Fishbowl goes by many names: Celebrity, the hat game, Monikers when it is bought as a boxed game. Players on Reddit describe it as a variation of charades played in three rounds, where every player writes a few names or things on slips of paper, the slips go into a hat or bowl, and the same slips are used in every round. One player who loves it says the slips can be "bonkers clues that would never work in charades" because the group writes them.

Setting up

1. Each player writes 4 or 5 slips: people everyone knows, things, places, phrases.
2. Fold the slips and put them in the bowl.
3. Split into two teams. Teams alternate, sending one player up each turn.
4. Each turn lasts 1 minute. The clue giver tries to get the team to guess as many slips as possible.

The three rounds

1. Round 1: describe. Use any words, but never say the answer or any part of it.
2. Round 2: act. Pantomime only. No words and no noises.
3. Round 3: one word. Say one single word, with no gestures. You may change your voice or use an accent.

A round ends when the bowl is empty. Guessed slips go to one side; a slip that is still unguessed when time runs out goes back in the bowl. When the bowl is empty, every slip goes back in and the next round starts. By round 3 everyone has heard each slip twice, which is why one word is enough.

Scoring

One point for each slip guessed. Add up all three rounds. The team with most points wins.

Tips

• Pay attention in rounds 1 and 2. As one Reddit player put it, you really have to keep track of what is in the hat for the harder rounds.
• Write slips that everyone in the room could know. A name only one person knows will slow round 1 down.
• Agree how many slips each person writes, so the bowl is not too full. About 30 slips plays well in an hour.

Play it on one phone

In the hat, choose Bowl, then pass the phone so everyone types slips into Your own slips and folds them in. The hat runs all three rounds, keeps time, shows how many slips are left and adds up the score. If you have no slips of your own, it fills the bowl with 30 slips from the categories you picked.