How to play charades

By Charades Game Ideas. Sources: Wikipedia, "Charades" (read 14 November 2026); Cub Scouts Bear adventure resource "How to Play Charades" on scouting.org (read 14 November 2026).

The idea of the game

Charades is a party guessing game. One player acts out a word or phrase without speaking, and the others try to guess it. It began in 18th century France as a written riddle, where each syllable of the answer was described in turn, and by the early 19th century people were acting the riddles out. Today almost every group plays it silently, with a few agreed gestures.

What you need

• Slips to act: written on paper and drawn from a hat or bowl, or drawn by the hat on this site.
• A timer, so turns stay short.
• A way to keep score.
• Two or more teams, or one group if you are playing with small children.

Step by step

1. Make teams. Split into two or more teams. The rules on Wikipedia describe teams that alternate until every player has acted at least once.
2. Draw a slip. The actor draws a slip and shows it to nobody.
3. Act it out. The actor mimes the answer. Spoken words, mouthing, spelling and pointing at objects are usually not allowed; some groups also ban humming and clapping.
4. Guess. The actor's team calls out guesses. The actor can nod, point at a player who is close and use the agreed signals.
5. Keep time. A turn usually lasts 1 to 3 minutes for a single slip, or 60 seconds for as many slips as possible in the fast version.
6. Score. One point for each correct guess. In one common version a team also scores a point for each slip the other team fails to guess in time.

Agree these before you start

Because charades is an old and informal game, the rules vary a lot. Wikipedia advises clarifying the rules before play begins in a mixed group. Settle these: may the actor make sounds, are names of people allowed, how long is a turn, and can the actor pass.

Hand signals

Most groups use a small set of signals: fingers for the number of words, fingers on the arm for syllables, a tug on the ear for "sounds like". See the hand signals guide for the full set.

Playing with kids

The Cub Scouts resource suggests starting with a bowl of phrases and titles, each player drawing a slip in turn, and using a timer to keep rounds short. For young children, choose simple slips like animals and actions, play all together instead of in teams, and switch the timer off.

Play it now

The hat game handles the slips, the timer and the score, so the group can focus on acting.