Charades FAQ

Charades is a word-guessing party game. Players split into teams; on each turn one person acts out a word or phrase in silence — no talking and no props — while their team races a timer to guess it. Every correct guess is a point, and the team with the most points at the end wins. charadesgame.app is a free browser version you play on one phone passed around the room.

Yes. charadesgame.app is completely free and runs entirely in your browser. There is nothing to buy, download, or install, and there are no interruptive video ads, premium categories, or paywalls. Open the page, pick your categories, and play.

No. The game is the website — a 100% browser-based build with no app-store download and no sign-up. Your settings and records are saved locally in your browser, so there is no login to manage.

Yes. With two players, set the match to a single team: one person acts and the other guesses, then swap. You will be chasing your own best-round and best-match records rather than beating an opponent, which the game tracks for you.

Charades began in 18th-century France as a riddle in verse, then became a spoken parlour game in Georgian and Victorian Britain. The silent, acted-out version — sometimes called “the game” or “acting charades” — spread through the 1800s and became a staple of house parties and, later, television panel shows. This build is that acted version, with a timer and a scoreboard.

Each round is a fixed length you choose at setup — 45, 60, 90, or 120 seconds. While the clock runs, every prompt your team guesses correctly is one point; tap the card to score it and get the next word. Passing a prompt gives no point (or minus one if you turned on the pass penalty). When the timer hits zero the round score is added to the team total and the phone passes on.

No talking, whispering, mouthing words, or sound effects. No pointing at objects or people in the room and no props — only gestures and body movement. Beyond that, standard clue signals are allowed and encouraged: finger counts for words and syllables, a hand cupped to the ear for “sounds like”, and category signs for movies, books, songs, and TV shows.

Yes. At setup you pick any combination of the 15 categories — Easy, Medium, Hard, Actions, Animals, Movies, Famous People, Jobs, Sports & Hobbies, Food & Drink, Around the House, Emotions, Places & Travel, For Kids, and Holidays & Events. The game shuffles all the words from your selected sets into one deck for the match.

A match runs until every team has acted the number of rounds you set (one to five each). The team with the highest total score wins. If two teams tie for the top score, the summary screen shows it as a draw.

By default, passing a prompt simply deals the next word with no point. If you switch on the pass penalty at setup, each pass subtracts one point from the round score (never below zero for that round). It makes players commit to acting rather than skipping to easier words.

That is a house rule. Many groups allow it after the “sounds like” signal — you cup your ear, act a rhyming word, and let the team bridge to the real answer. Others ban it. Agree before you start; the game does not police it.

Hold up fingers for the number of words, then for which word you are on. Rest fingers on your forearm for the number of syllables. Cup a hand behind your ear for “sounds like”. Frame your face for a movie, open your hands like a book for a book, sing silently for a song, draw a rectangle for a TV show, and pinch your fingers for a small word like “a” or “the”. Pull hands apart for “longer”, push them together for “shorter”, and beckon for “keep going, you’re close”.

Act the category first so the team knows what kind of answer to shout. Break long prompts into syllables and start with the easiest one. Guessers should call out every partial idea — the actor can only build on guesses they hear. And pass quickly on a prompt you genuinely cannot act rather than burning ten seconds on pride.

Keep talking. A silent team gives the actor nothing to react to. Say every half-formed idea out loud, repeat the last confirmed word so you build the phrase together, and watch for the actor’s “yes, keep going” beckon versus the “no” head shake.

Sixty seconds is the classic length and the default. Choose 45 seconds for a fast, high-pressure game with experienced players, or 90 to 120 seconds when playing with kids or with the harder categories so actors have room to build a clue.

You need at least two people so someone can act while someone else guesses, and it is much more fun with four or more split into two teams. Only one phone or screen is required — it passes to whichever team is acting. There is no room code and no second device.

Yes. It is a family-friendly game with no chat and no store. Add the “For Kids” category (and “Easy” and “Animals”) for simple, friendly prompts, and consider the 90 or 120-second round so younger actors are not rushed.

Your last-used settings and your records — matches played, total correct guesses, best single round, and best match score — are saved locally in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server and there is no account. Because the save lives on the device, a different phone, a new browser profile, or cleared site data looks like a fresh start. A match in progress is not saved if you close the tab.

The game needs a connection to load the page the first time. After that, some browsers may keep the tab playable without a network, but there is no dedicated offline app or installer.

Open the stats panel from the game and use Reset records, then confirm with the second tap. That clears matches played, total correct, best round, and best match score on this browser. It cannot be undone.