How to Play Charades: Rules, Hand Signals and 60 Words
The full rules of charades: how to split teams, how long each turn lasts, what the standard hand signals mean and 60 words ready to act out.
Türkçe okuShort answer
Charades is played in two teams: one player draws a word and acts it out in silence while their own team tries to guess before time runs out. The standard turn is one minute and every correct guess scores a point for the team. The actor cannot speak, mouth the word, spell letters or point at objects in the room; they may only use the established hand signals for word type and syllable count. Short answer: two teams, one minute per turn, no talking and no spelling.
How to play charades: the basic rules
Charades is an acting game for at least four people, split into two teams. It needs nothing: write words on slips of paper and drop them in a bowl.
A player from the team whose turn it is draws a word, shows it to the opposing team, then faces their own team and starts acting. Their team guesses. If they get it before the timer runs out, the point goes to the team; if not, play passes to the other side.
The actor has one constraint, and it is strict: no sound. Speaking, humming, mouthing the word, writing letters and pointing at objects in the room are all out. Everything else is allowed — body, face, and the established hand signals.
- 01Players: 4 minimum, 6-12 ideal.
- 02Teams: two even sides.
- 03Time: 1 minute per turn (90 seconds for easy words).
- 04Scoring: 1 point per word guessed.
- 05End: first team to a set score, or ahead when the rounds run out.
Charades hand signals: the gestures everyone at the table should know
These signals are what keeps the game moving. The actor first says what kind of thing the word is, then starts acting. Without them, the first twenty seconds go on guessing the category.
Reading this list out loud once before the first round speeds up the whole evening.
- 01Film: crank an imaginary camera with both hands.
- 02TV series: draw a rectangle (a screen) in the air.
- 03Book: press your palms together, then open them.
- 04Song: hold an imaginary microphone to your mouth.
- 05Phrase or saying: make air quotes with both hands.
- 06Number of words: hold up that many fingers.
- 07Which word you are doing: point to that finger.
- 08Number of syllables: tap that many fingers on your forearm.
- 09"You're close": beckon towards yourself.
- 10"You're off": push your hand away.
- 11"Short word": pinch thumb and index finger together (a, the, of).
- 12"The opposite of that": flip both hands over in the air.
Time, scoring and round structure
A minute sounds short at the table but it is the right measure in practice. Give people longer and the actor stops panicking, which is exactly where the comedy lives.
The round order is simple: teams alternate, and a different member acts each round. That way one person is not performing all night.
- 01Classic: teams alternate, 1 minute, 10 rounds.
- 02Speed round: 30 seconds, easy words, double points.
- 03Chain: whoever guesses correctly becomes the next actor, teams dissolve.
- 04Penalty pile: an unguessed word goes back in the bowl and may come up again.
Easy words to act out
The first round is a warm-up. Handing out a hard word before the group has settled into the signals just stalls the turn. Everything here can be carried by a single gesture.
- 01Sleeping
- 02Brushing your teeth
- 03Playing football
- 04Taking a photo
- 05Driving a car
- 06Drinking coffee
- 07Swimming
- 08Climbing stairs
- 09Talking on the phone
- 10Fishing
- 11Dancing
- 12Ironing
- 13Knocking on a door
- 14Playing guitar
- 15Aeroplane
- 16Cat
- 17Doctor
- 18Teacher
- 19Rain
- 20Birthday cake
Medium words
This group needs several gestures in sequence. The actor has to break the word into parts, and that is where the game gets genuinely funny.
- 01Stuck in traffic
- 02Cheating in an exam
- 03Forgetting the shopping list
- 04Trapped in a lift
- 05Getting a baby to sleep
- 06Emptying the dishwasher
- 07Shovelling snow
- 08Pitching a tent
- 09Getting a haircut
- 10The dentist's chair
- 11A job interview
- 12Turbulence on a plane
- 13Burning dinner
- 14Running for the bus
- 15Falling asleep over a book
- 16A surprise party
- 17Wrapping a present
- 18Locking your keys inside
- 19A computer freezing
- 20Moving house
Hard words: abstract nouns and sayings
The group you keep for the last round. Abstract concepts and idioms have to be built syllable by syllable, which is where a table that skipped the signals grinds to a halt.
- 01Regret
- 02Jealousy
- 03Patience
- 04Loneliness
- 05Nostalgia
- 06Coincidence
- 07Bite the bullet
- 08Spill the beans
- 09Break the ice
- 10Under the weather
- 11Cost an arm and a leg
- 12Kill two birds with one stone
- 13Let the cat out of the bag
- 14Barking up the wrong tree
- 15Once in a blue moon
- 16The last straw
- 17Burning the midnight oil
- 18Cutting corners
- 19Sitting on the fence
- 20Throwing in the towel
When the crowd thins out
Charades needs four people to work. At three you cannot form teams and the game ends by itself.
What keeps a shrinking table going is not acting but conversation. If the group still wants to keep laughing, the next round can be a question deck: draw a card, read it out, pass the turn. Best Liar Wins suits people who enjoy bluffing; The Gossip Pot works for groups who have known each other a long time.
Frequently asked questions
How many people do you need for charades?
Four at minimum, because you need two teams. The sweet spot is 6-12: the teams are full and nobody acts twice in a row. Above twelve, splitting into three teams keeps the waiting down.
How long is each turn in charades?
One minute is standard. Hard words get stretched to 90 seconds and speed rounds drop to 30. Going much longer noticeably flattens the pace of the game.
Why is talking banned in charades?
It is the one rule the game rests on: the acting is done with the body. Making sounds, mouthing the word and spelling letters all fall under the same ban. Break it and the turn is void, with no point awarded.
Can you point at objects in charades?
No. Pointing at something in the room counts as handing over the word. The one exception is your own body — you can point to your arm, your eye, your foot.
Where do you get charades words from?
The classic method is everyone at the table writing three words and dropping them in a bowl, so the words fit the group's shared references. If you use a ready-made list, make sure it is split into easy, medium and hard; a list at one difficulty either burns through in minutes or never moves at all.
Card sets mentioned in this post
Ready to play?
Download Beni Tanı, pick a deck and put the phone on the table.
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