Charades rules and signs
Charades has no governing body, but the signs below are used almost everywhere. Learn them once and your team can tell "movie, three words, second word, sounds like" in a couple of seconds.
After the signs come the core rules, scoring and the house rules groups argue about most.
Category signs
Show the category first, so guessers know what kind of answer to look for.
- Movie: crank an old-fashioned film camera beside your head.
- TV show: draw a rectangle in the air with both index fingers.
- Book: hold your palms together, then open them like a book.
- Song: put a hand on your chest and open your mouth as if singing.
- Play: pull an imaginary rope, like opening stage curtains.
- Phrase or quote: make quotation marks in the air with two fingers of each hand.
Word and syllable signs
- Number of words: hold up that many fingers.
- Which word you are acting: hold up one, two, three fingers again.
- Number of syllables: lay that many fingers on your forearm.
- Which syllable: lay one, two, three fingers on your forearm again.
- Small word (a, the, of): hold your thumb and finger close together.
- Sounds like: cup a hand behind your ear, then act a rhyming word.
- The whole thing: sweep your arms in a big circle.
- Close, keep going: beckon with your hand. Wrong direction: push the air away.
- Correct: point at the guesser and touch your nose.
Core rules
- The actor may not speak, whisper, mouth words or make letters with their hands.
- No pointing at objects in the room that give the answer away.
- Only the actor's team may guess during their turn.
- A turn ends when the word is guessed or time runs out (60 seconds is standard).
Scoring
One point per correct guess. Some groups give a bonus point for guessing in under 15 seconds, or let the other team steal with one guess when time runs out. Play a fixed number of rounds, or to a target score.
House rules to agree first
Sound effects or silence? Props allowed? Can the actor pass on a word? Can young children skip the signs? Decide before the first turn and the game stays friendly.
Try it now
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Titles to practise the signs with30 of 207
This set has 207 ideas. Start with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", "Frozen", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" — give each actor 60 seconds; it mixes quick single-word turns with longer scenes, so swap easy and hard cards to keep the pace even.
- The Very Hungry CaterpillarEasy
- FrozenEasy
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Little StarEasy
- SpongeBob SquarePantsEasy
- The Cat in the HatEasy
- The Lion KingEasy
- Baby SharkEasy
- Sesame StreetEasy
- Green Eggs and HamEasy
- Toy StoryEasy
- Old MacDonald Had a FarmEasy
- Peppa PigEasy
- Winnie-the-PoohEasy
- Finding NemoEasy
- The Wheels on the BusEasy
- Paw PatrolEasy
- Dog ManEasy
- CarsEasy
- If You're Happy and You Know ItEasy
- BlueyEasy
- Pete the CatEasy
- ShrekEasy
- Head, Shoulders, Knees and ToesEasy
- Barney & FriendsEasy
- MatildaEasy
- UpEasy
- Itsy Bitsy SpiderEasy
- TeletubbiesEasy
- HolesEasy
- MoanaEasy
Questions
What are the basic rules of charades?
One player acts out a word or title without speaking while their team guesses within a time limit. No talking, mouthing or spelling.
What is the sign for "sounds like" in charades?
Cup a hand behind your ear, then act out a word that rhymes with the one you mean.
How do you show syllables in charades?
Lay fingers on your forearm: the number of fingers is the number of syllables. Then lay one, two or three fingers to show which syllable you are acting.
Can you use props in charades?
Traditionally no, apart from your own body. Some groups allow objects that do not give the answer away; agree first.
Can the actor pass on a word?
Most groups allow one pass per turn. The generator's Skip button deals a new word.