Charades ideas for adults: funny, hard and easy ideas to act out

Good charades ideas for adults are things everyone has done, which turn into a show the moment you can't use words. These ideas leave out titles and names on purpose. They come from actions, jobs, everyday moments, feelings, animals and places, so nobody at the table loses because they haven't seen or read the right thing. Write the ones you like on slips, fold them into a bowl, and you're ready to play.

An example: Saoirse had one minute, no words and a slip of paper that said "parallel parking." She sat on the very front edge of the sofa as if it were a driver's seat, held both fists up on a wheel that wasn't there and turned her head to check a mirror that wasn't there either. Rasmus leaned over the back of the sofa, pointed at her and shouted, "Driving lesson!" Paloma, at the other end, had both hands on her cheeks and couldn't stop laughing long enough to guess. Saoirse kept a straight face, rolled back an inch, stopped, and rolled forward again. On her third try she pretended to bump into the floor lamp, and Rasmus got it with four seconds left.

Charades rules in a minute

You need slips of paper, a pen, a bowl and a phone timer. A full game for two teams takes about 45 minutes.

1. Split into two teams. Each team writes ideas for the other team and puts them in its own bowl.
2. One player draws a slip from the other team's bowl and has one minute to act it out for their own team, with no words and no sounds.
3. The team shouts guesses. A right guess before the timer runs out wins a point.
4. Teams take turns, with a new actor each time, until every slip is gone.

A few old signals help. Hold up fingers to show how many words there are, then hold up fingers again to say which word you're on. Lay fingers on the inside of your other elbow to show syllables. Tug your earlobe for "sounds like," and touch your nose when someone guesses right.

Charades ideas by category

Mix slips from several categories in one bowl, or play one category per round.

Actions to act out

• Brushing your teeth in a hurry
• Tying a shoelace with cold fingers
• Painting a ceiling
• Blowing up a balloon
• Hanging washing on a line in the wind
• Threading a needle
• Jumping rope
• Ironing a shirt
• Building a sandcastle
• Chopping onions

Jobs and work

• Lifeguard
• Window cleaner on a tall building
• Beekeeper
• Pilot landing a plane
• Barber
• Firefighter
• Plumber under a sink
• Tailor
• Dog walker with six dogs
• Orchestra conductor
• Magician
• Mail carrier

Everyday situations

• Missing the bus by a few seconds
• Walking into a spider web
• Putting together flat-pack furniture
• Looking for your keys in a big bag
• Waiting for a slow elevator
• Carrying too many grocery bags at once
• A sneeze that won't come
• Opening a jar that won't open
• A pen that stops working in the middle of a signature
• Getting stuck in a revolving door

Feelings and moods

• Nervous before a speech
• Relieved when the plane lands
• Bored in a long line
• Proud of a cake you baked
• Jealous of a friend's lunch
• Shy at a party
• Impatient at a red light
• Embarrassed after waving at a stranger
• Sleepy in a meeting
• Overjoyed at a surprise visit

Animals to act out

• Penguin
• Flamingo standing on one leg
• Octopus
• Sloth
• Kangaroo
• Crab walking sideways
• Giraffe eating from a tall tree
• Peacock showing off
• Chameleon
• Seal on a rock

Places

• An airport security line
• A library
• A gym
• A car wash
• A beach on a windy day
• A ski lift
• A busy restaurant kitchen
• A laundromat
• A tent in the rain
• A haunted house

Funny charades ideas

Funny slips work best when the actor has to commit to something a little silly. The room laughs at the effort as much as at the idea.

• A cat trying to fit into a box that's too small
• A goose chasing a jogger
• Realizing you've been on mute for the whole call
• Doing yoga next to someone much better at it
• A seagull stealing a sandwich
• Folding a fitted sheet
• A robot vacuum stuck in a corner
• Dancing alone in the kitchen, then noticing the neighbor at the window
• Walking barefoot across hot sand
• A tourist taking a photo of everything
• Sneezing while carrying a full tray
• A squirrel deciding which way to cross the road

Hard charades ideas

Hard ones ask the actor to show something you can't hold. Save them for later rounds, or for a team that is winning by a lot.

• Jet lag
• Having second thoughts
• Putting things off until tomorrow
• Gravity
• An echo
• A rumor going around the office
• A power cut
• Forgetting why you walked into a room
• An itch you can't reach
• A traffic jam seen from the front car
• Getting lost in a maze
• Changing your mind three times about what to cook
• Daylight saving time

Easy charades ideas

Easy slips are good for the first round, or when someone has never played before.

• Sleeping
• Swimming
• Fishing
• Riding a bike
• Eating spaghetti
• Climbing a ladder
• Brushing your hair
• Reading
• Waving goodbye
• Taking a photo
• Driving a car
• Clapping

Charades words and prompts

These run from easy to hard. The single words suit a first round or a nervous actor, the short prompts give a good actor something to play with, and the last group will stretch anyone. Write each one on its own slip.

Single words:

• Yawn
• Shiver
• Whisper
• Tiptoe
• Juggle
• Knock
• Shrug
• Hiccup

Short prompts:

• Hailing a taxi in the rain
• Carrying a full bowl of soup to the table
• Trying on shoes that are too small
• Learning to whistle
• Pulling on a sweater inside out
• Peeling a sticker that won't come off
• Racing to finish an ice cream cone before it drips
• Catching a fly with chopsticks

Hard words and prompts:

• Brain freeze
• Writer's block
• Wishful thinking
• A false alarm
• Nostalgia
• Autocorrect
• A long weekend
• Peer pressure

Charades games with a twist

Once everyone knows the rules, one of these changes the game enough to feel new.

• Reverse charades. You need the same slips and bowl. The whole team acts out the slip together while one player guesses, which takes the pressure off shy actors. About 30 minutes for four rounds.
• Running charades. You need one list of ten ideas and a host in the middle of the room, with each team in its own corner. One player from each team runs to the host, reads the first idea, runs back and acts it out. As soon as their team guesses, the next player runs for the second idea, and the first team through the list wins. About 15 minutes, and it gets loud.
• Charades in pairs. You need the usual slips. Two players act out one slip together, so jobs and places turn into small scenes, like a barber and a nervous customer. About 30 minutes.
• Speed round. You need a bowl of easy slips and a one-minute timer. One actor gets through as many slips as they can while the team guesses, skipping any that stall. The team with the most slips after three turns wins. About 10 minutes.
• Silent relay. You need one slip per round. Four players wait outside the room. The first comes in, reads the slip and acts it out for the second, who acts it out for the third without ever seeing the slip, and the last one says what they think it was. About 10 minutes a round.

On December 31, a round of charades fits well between other games, and New Year's Eve party games has plenty more for the hour before midnight.

In October, Halloween games for adults has a bowl of Halloween charades prompts for a costume party.

After a Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving games for adults has prompts the table writes from its own day, plus a pictionary relay.

When the group would rather sit and write than stand and act, Scattergories lists gives everyone a pencil, a letter and twelve categories.

Christmas charades ideas

Charades at Christmas works best with winter scenes everyone has lived through. Put these in their own bowl for a December party.

• Untangling a string of lights
• Carrying a tree through a narrow door
• Building a snowman
• Shoveling snow off the front steps
• Sledding down a hill
• Santa stuck in a chimney
• Burning a tray of cookies
• Ice skating for the first time
• Hanging lights on the roof
• Catching snowflakes on your tongue
• A reindeer pulling a sleigh
• Shaking a snow globe

If acting out the snow makes you want to go out in it, winter date ideas has plans for two on a cold day.

To draw the season instead of acting it, try these Christmas pictionary words on a big sheet of paper.

Who loves to act and who loves to guess

Watch a game of charades for ten minutes and you'll see two kinds of players. Some can't wait to get up and act. Others sit forward on the sofa and enjoy the guessing more. Seven of the 16 types make the split easy to spot:

• Ideator finds a strange way to act out anything, and it's often funnier than the slip itself.
• Vitalizer jumps up first, uses the whole room and doesn't mind looking silly.
• Analyst guesses by elimination, counting words and syllables until only one answer fits.
• Mentor acts out feelings with big, clear faces, so the moods category belongs to them.
• Dreamer senses where a mime is heading and often makes the quiet, right guess that louder players miss.
• Strategist writes the hard slips and enjoys watching the other team struggle with jet lag.
• Craftsman acts with careful hands, so threading a needle or folding a fitted sheet looks real.

The theory behind the types sees these as tendencies, which is a long way from a rule. Your friends may surprise you, and none of this is advice about how to split the teams. A good bowl of slips still has something for both sides: ideas that are fun to act and ideas that are fun to guess.

Find out what kind of team you and a friend make

Typeza tells you and a friend your relationship type, and it shows why one of you grabs the slip while the other grabs the best seat for guessing. It starts with the free personality test. Afterwards, share your result with your favorite charades partner.

Questions people ask

What are good charades ideas for adults?

Everyday actions, jobs, feelings, animals and places all work, like parallel parking, a beekeeper, nervous before a speech or a crab walking sideways. Everyone at the table knows them, so nobody needs to have seen or read the same things.

What are good charades game ideas?

Pick things a person can show with the whole body in a minute. Start with single words like yawn, shiver or tiptoe, move on to short scenes like hailing a taxi in the rain, and end with ideas such as brain freeze or a false alarm.

What are funny things to act out in charades?

Try folding a fitted sheet, a goose chasing a jogger, a robot vacuum stuck in a corner or realizing you've been on mute for the whole call.

What are hard charades ideas?

Ideas you can't hold are the hardest, like jet lag, gravity, an echo, a power cut or forgetting why you walked into a room.

How do you play reverse charades?

The whole team acts out the slip together while one player guesses. It's a good way to start if some guests are shy about acting alone.

Sources

• Wikipedia, "Charades": the usual signals for the number of words, syllables, "sounds like" and a right guess.

Written by Virko Kask, founder of Typeza
Written with the help of AI tools.