Charades generator
This charades generator draws a random word to act out and gives you a one minute timer. It holds 180 charades ideas in eight categories: movies, songs, TV shows, actions, animals, famous people, Christmas and a mild 18+ round for adults.
Titanic
Only the actor looks at the screen. Press New word, then Start, and act until your team guesses it or the timer runs out. The phone vibrates at the end on phones that support it.
Hand the phone to the actor, draw a word, press start and act while your team guesses. Switch categories on and off to suit the room, from a family Christmas to a late night with adults.
- Players
- 4 or more
- Round
- 1 minute
- Words
- 180 in 8 categories
180 charades ideas to act out
The words are picked to be actable, not just famous: each one has a pose, a sound or a scene you can show with your body. Actions and Animals are the easiest place to start, and they work for kids too.
Movies for charades
25- Titanic
- Jaws
- Frozen
- The Lion King
- Jurassic Park
- Home Alone
- Star Wars
- Harry Potter
- The Wizard of Oz
- Toy Story
- Finding Nemo
- Ghostbusters
- Grease
- Rocky
- The Matrix
- Top Gun
- Back to the Future
- Mamma Mia
- Shrek
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Spider-Man
- King Kong
- E.T.
- Dirty Dancing
- The Karate Kid
Songs to act out
20- Happy Birthday
- Single Ladies
- YMCA
- Macarena
- Dancing Queen
- Thriller
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- Let It Go
- Baby Shark
- Gangnam Style
- I Will Survive
- Twist and Shout
- Eye of the Tiger
- Wrecking Ball
- Hips Don't Lie
- Livin' on a Prayer
- Under the Sea
- Shake It Off
- Uptown Funk
- We Will Rock You
TV shows
20- Friends
- The Simpsons
- Game of Thrones
- Breaking Bad
- Stranger Things
- The Office
- Squid Game
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Sesame Street
- Baywatch
- Grey's Anatomy
- The Walking Dead
- Sherlock
- The Crown
- Wednesday
- Survivor
- MasterChef
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
- Scooby-Doo
- The Great British Bake Off
Actions and everyday scenes
25- Brushing your teeth
- Walking a dog that won't stop pulling
- Taking a selfie
- Climbing a mountain
- Flipping pancakes
- Riding a rollercoaster
- Fishing
- Doing yoga
- Walking on ice
- Building flat pack furniture
- Parallel parking
- Blowing up a balloon
- Surfing
- Juggling
- Milking a cow
- Catching a fly
- Putting on tight jeans
- Ironing a shirt
- Eating spaghetti
- Being stuck in an elevator
- Looking for your keys
- Skydiving
- Hailing a taxi
- Bowling
- Trying not to sneeze in a library
Animals
25- Kangaroo
- Penguin
- Elephant
- Giraffe
- Monkey
- Snake
- Flamingo
- Crab
- Gorilla
- Chicken
- Frog
- Octopus
- Sloth
- Peacock
- Shark
- Dolphin
- Bat
- Horse
- A kitten chasing a laser
- Crocodile
- Owl
- T. rex
- Jellyfish
- Camel
- Squirrel
Famous people and characters
20- Elvis Presley
- Michael Jackson
- Charlie Chaplin
- Marilyn Monroe
- Albert Einstein
- Usain Bolt
- Freddie Mercury
- Cleopatra
- Napoleon
- William Shakespeare
- Beyoncé
- Taylor Swift
- Muhammad Ali
- Bruce Lee
- Tarzan
- Superman
- Darth Vader
- Mr Bean
- Sherlock Holmes
- Gollum
Christmas charades
25- Decorating the tree
- Wrapping presents
- Santa stuck in the chimney
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Snowball fight
- Building a snowman
- Ice skating
- Kissing under the mistletoe
- Carol singers
- Elf on the Shelf
- Opening an advent calendar
- The Grinch
- Gingerbread man
- Jingle Bells
- Last Christmas
- Hanging up stockings
- Eating too much Christmas dinner
- Pulling a Christmas cracker
- Unwrapping socks you didn't want
- Writing a letter to Santa
- Sledding
- The Nutcracker
- A Christmas Carol
- Untangling the fairy lights
- Elf, the film
Adult charades (18+, mild)
20Cheeky, not explicit. For a group of adults who want it, and anyone can pass on a word.
- Walk of shame
- Speed dating
- A first date gone wrong
- The morning after
- Swiping on a dating app
- Sneaking home without waking anyone
- Doing the limbo
- Losing a shoe on the dance floor
- Flirting at the bar
- Slow dancing with a stranger
- A bachelorette party
- Texting your ex at 2 am
- Pole dancing
- Skinny dipping
- Getting caught kissing
- Being the wingman
- Getting dressed in the dark
- A hot tub party
- Fifty Shades of Grey
- A firefighter calendar photo shoot
How to play charades
Charades is the party game where you act out a word without speaking while your team guesses it. The rules are simple, and the generator above takes care of the two things that usually slow a game down: thinking up words and keeping time.
- Split into two teamsThree to six players per team is ideal. Teams sit on opposite sides of the room so everyone can see the actor.
- The actor draws a wordOne player from the first team takes the phone, presses New word and keeps the screen hidden from everyone else.
- Show the category and the number of wordsStart with the gesture for the category, like cranking a camera for a movie, then hold up fingers for the number of words.
- Press start and actYou have one minute. No talking, no mouthing words and no pointing at things in the room that spell it out. Sounds are allowed only if your group agrees on it first.
- Score and swapIf your team guesses it before the timer ends, you get a point. Then the phone goes to the other team, and every player acts at least once a game.
Charades gestures everyone should know
These signals are the shared language of the game. Go through them before the first round, especially with new players, so the guessing starts in the first seconds.
| What you want to say | Gesture |
|---|---|
| It's a movie | Crank an old film camera next to your eye with one hand |
| It's a book | Hold your palms together, then open them like a book |
| It's a song | Pretend to sing with one hand moving out from your mouth |
| It's a TV show | Draw a rectangle in the air with both index fingers |
| Number of words | Hold up that many fingers |
| Which word I'm acting | Hold up fingers again, two fingers means the second word |
| Number of syllables | Lay that many fingers on your forearm |
| Sounds like | Tug your earlobe, then act a word that rhymes |
| A short word, like a or the | Hold your thumb and index finger close together |
| The whole thing | Sweep both arms in a big circle |
| Yes, you got it | Point at your nose with one hand and at the guesser with the other |
How to keep score with teams
One point per word is enough for a relaxed evening. For a more competitive game, pick one of the formats below before you start.
| Format | How it scores | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Classic | 1 point per word guessed within the minute | Any group, first game of the night |
| Speed round | As many words as possible in one minute, pass allowed once | Groups who already know the gestures |
| Steal | If the team misses, the other team gets one guess to steal the point | Keeping both teams paying attention |
| Categories race | First team to score in all eight categories wins | Long evenings and big groups |
| Christmas special | Christmas words count double | Family Christmas and office parties |
Same clock, no acting required
In Dronk's The Bomb, the phone shows a category, you say an answer and pass it on before the hidden fuse blows somewhere between 15 and 45 seconds. Seven packs and 350 categories, on one phone for any number of players.
Get Dronk free on iPhone
Charades variations
Once everyone knows the gestures, change the format to keep the game fresh.
- Forehead charades. The guesser holds the phone to their forehead with the word facing out, and the team acts it out together.
- Reverse charades. The whole team acts and one player guesses. Louder, faster and better with big groups.
- One word only. No titles, just the Actions and Animals categories. Perfect for kids and for the first round.
- Christmas charades. Switch every category off except Christmas and play after dinner. Untangling the fairy lights is always a crowd favourite.
- Freeze frame. The actor gets five seconds to strike one pose and then freezes. No movement allowed after that.
Questions people ask
How do you play charades?
Split into two teams. One player draws a word, shows the category with a gesture and acts the word out without speaking. If their team guesses it within the time limit, usually one minute, they score a point. Then the other team plays.
What are good charades ideas?
Good charades ideas have a clear pose or scene, like Jaws, Thriller, Flipping pancakes or Santa stuck in the chimney. The generator on this page has 180 of them in eight categories.
What are the hand signals in charades?
Crank a camera for a movie, open your hands like a book for a book, draw a rectangle for a TV show, hold up fingers for the number of words, and tug your ear for sounds like.
Can you make sounds in charades?
In the classic game, no. Many groups allow sounds but no words, which makes animals and songs easier. Agree on the rule before you start.
What are good Christmas charades?
Santa stuck in the chimney, Untangling the fairy lights, Kissing under the mistletoe and Unwrapping socks you didn't want always work. Turn on only the Christmas category to play 25 of them.
Is this about the 1963 film Charade?
No, this page is about the party game charades. The 1963 film is called Charade, singular, and stars Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.
Keep the night going
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