Charades Generator

What the charades generator does

Press Next and you get a fresh charades word from a list we wrote ourselves. Words come from eleven categories: animals, actions, objects, food, jobs, sports, places, feelings, movie genres, everyday life and music. Each word has a difficulty level and an age rating, so you can keep a family game simple or give a group of adults something tricky.

Play mode turns your phone into a game card. The word fills the screen, a timer counts down, and two score counters keep track of each team. Everything runs in your browser, so the next card appears instantly.

How to use it

1. Pick categories. Tap the category chips to choose the kind of words you want. Leave them all on for a mixed game.
2. Set the difficulty. Easy words are quick to act out. Medium and hard words take more creativity.
3. Choose the age rating. Words for kids and teens show by default. Turn on adults if you want ideas for an older group.
4. Press Next for a new word, or switch to list view to see a whole batch at once.
5. Start play mode. Choose a round timer of 30, 60 or 90 seconds and turn on hide word, so the card stays covered until the actor taps it. Tap or swipe for the next word, press Skip when a word is too hard, and add points to each team's counter.

How to play charades

Charades is a guessing game. One person acts out a word without speaking, and their team tries to name it before time runs out.

1. Split into two teams and decide who acts first.
2. The actor taps the card to see the word privately. Nobody else should look.
3. Start the timer. The actor uses only gestures, faces and movement. No talking, no sounds, no mouthing the word and no pointing at the real thing in the room.
4. Teammates call out guesses. A correct guess before the timer ends scores one point.
5. Pass the phone to the other team for their turn. After an agreed number of rounds, the team with the most points wins.

A few classic signals help. Hold up fingers to show how many words there are, tap your forearm to show the number of syllables, and cup a hand behind your ear for "sounds like".

Ways to use the charades generator

Family game night

Start with easy animals and objects for younger players. Mix in harder cards as everyone warms up.

Parties and holidays

Two teams, a 60-second timer and the score counters make a game anyone can join. There's nothing to set up beyond picking teams.

Classrooms

Acting out words is a lively way to practice vocabulary. Pick a single category, such as jobs or feelings, to match a lesson.

Icebreakers at work

A few quick rounds get a new group laughing. Stick to easy words so nobody feels put on the spot.

Language learners

Guessers have to say the word out loud, which makes charades good speaking practice. The actor learns the word by showing it.

Tips

• Hide the word before you pass the phone, so the next actor can't see it by accident.
• Agree on a skip limit, such as one skip per turn, so the game stays fair.
• Match the timer to the group. 90 seconds is relaxed for kids; 30 seconds keeps adults moving fast.
• Mix categories to make each card a surprise, or pick one for a themed round.
• Want to draw instead? Try things to draw for a drawing game, or the imposter game for a game of bluffing.