Charades: Topic Ideas, Word Lists, and How to Play
Charades is a fun party game that people of all ages can enjoy. However, coming up with charades ideas can be hard, so I've compiled a list of possible ideas for you!
When choosing an idea for your own game of charades, ensure that every single person will be able to guess it—or at least know what it was when the answer is revealed at the end.
Enjoy!
Rules
Variant 1
The rules of charades are simple. There are many variations on how to play; here is one of two that I'll cover here:
- You must think of a movie, book, celebrity or something from another category chosen with your friends before the beginning of the game.
- Place these charades ideas written on slips of paper into a hat, a basket, or just laid out on a table (make sure nobody can see what's written on them). Then, have someone draw a slip and show it to the "actor," who then has to act out whatever charades idea you draw.
- Using gestures and your extraordinary acting abilities, you/the actor must then make your friends correctly guess what you are thinking of. You can do this in one of two ways. The first is to give your friends the gist of what you are doing. For example, if you were thinking of "Harry Potter," you may wave an imaginary wand around.
Variant 2
The second method is breaking it down word by word, and acting out individual words. For example, if you were thinking of "Harry Potter," you might hold up two fingers, showing that you are acting out the second word, and then mime forming clay (being a "potter").
- Remember, no matter what, you are not allowed to talk. Whether or not you can make noises that are not words depends on what rules you choose to play by. This should be decided by the group before you start to play.
- Also, you cannot use props. For example, if you were acting out "Harry Potter," running to the bookcase and grabbing your Harry Potter book or running to the attic and grabbing a Harry Potter figurine to show your audience is not allowed.
Bonus Variant
To add a twist to the game, why not try having a team of two people both acting?
Movies
Vertigo
| The Devil Wears Prada
| Amelie
|
Titanic
| Ghostbusters
| Bridget Jones' Diary
|
Gremlins
| Saw
| The Dark Knight
|
12 Angry Men
| Skyfall
| Goodfellas
|
The Shawshank Redemption
| Anna Karenina
| Fried Green Tomatoes
|
Shrek
| Zero Dark Thirty
| Pulp Fiction
|
The Godfather
| Fight Club
| Toy Story 3
|
Annie
| Lincoln
| The Matrix
|
Alien
| Snow White and the Huntsman
| Home Alone
|
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
| Beasts of the Southern Wild
| Black Beauty
|
Black Swan
| The Departed
| Click
|
Inception
| The Lion King
| Twilight
|
Argo
| Aladdin
| Clueless
|
Django Unchained
| Kung-Fu Panda
| X-Men
|
Life of Pi
| Jaws
| To Kill A Mockingbird
|
Psycho
| The Birds
| On the Waterfront
|
Iron Man
| Braveheart
| The Matrix
|
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
| The Little Mermaid
| Mrs. Doubtfire
|
Beaches
| The Wizard of Oz
| Forrest Gump
|
Silver Linings Playbook
| Hairspray
| American Beauty
|
TV Shows
The Simpsons
| Supernatural
| Top Gear
|
South Park
| The IT Crowd
| Suits
|
Game of Thrones
| The Wire
| Gossip Girl
|
Frasier
| Arrested Development
| Veronica Mars
|
Revenge
| The Sopranos
| That '70s Show
|
Friends
| Inspector Rex
| House
|
Sex and the City
| Modern Family
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
|
Dexter
| The Newsroom
| The West Wing
|
Breaking Bad
| Entourage
| The OC
|
Toddlers and Tiaras
| Fawlty Towers
| Homeland
|
Dance Moms
| Seinfeld
| Scrubs
|
Family Guy
| How I Met Your Mother
| The Saddle Club
|
Curb Your Enthuiasm
| Dora the Explorer
| Grey's Anatomy
|
The Amazing Race
| Wipeout
| The Office
|
Star Trek
| Neighbours
| Mr Bean
|
Flight of the Concords
| The Big Bang Theory
| Futurama
|
Lost
| Kim Possible
| Doctor Who
|
Keeping Up With the Kardashians
| Deadwood
| Mythbusters
|
Downton Abbey
| Big Brother
| The X Files
|
I Love Lucy
| Smallville
| Survivor
|
Summer Heights High
|
Books
Harry Potter
| Angels and Demons
| The Handmaid's Tale
|
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
| The Five People You Meet In Heaven
|
The Da Vinci Code
| The Grapes of Wrath
| Jane Eyre
|
Little Women
| Catch-22
| The Catcher in the Rye
|
The Code of the Woosters
| The Pillars of the Earth
| Watership Down
|
A Clockwood Orange
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar
| A Thousand Splendid Suns
|
Gone With the Wind
| 50 Shades of Grey
| The Wind in the Willows
|
The Wind in the Willows
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
| Eclipse
|
Nineteen Eighty-Four
| The Cat in the Hat
| Breaking Dawn
|
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
| The Hunger Games
| New Moon
|
Brave New World
| The Secret
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
|
Rebecca
| A Tale of Two Cities
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
|
Charlotte's Web
| The Hobbit
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
|
Celebrity and Fictional Characters
Michael Jackson
| Bill Gates
| Catwoman
|
Britney Spears
| Nancy Drew
| Wonder Woman
|
Paris Hilton
| Peter Rabbit
| Rebecca Black
|
Justin Bieber
| A zombie
| George Washington
|
Superman
| The Incredible Hulk
| Albert Einstein
|
Homer Simpson
| Spiderman
| Chandler Bing
|
Frankenstein
|
Musicals
Cats
| Rent
| The Book of Mormon
|
Mamma Mia!
| Evita
| Fiddler on the Roof
|
A Chorus Line
| Hairspray
| Jersey Boys
|
The Rocky Horror Show
| Miss Saigon
| Legally Blonde
|
Grease
| The Lion King
| Billy Elliot the Musical
|
Wicked
| Oh! Calcutta!
| Beauty and the Beast
|
My Fair Lady
| Jesus Christ Superstar
| 42nd Street
|
Oklahoma!
| The Phantom of the Opera
| Chicago
|
Les Miserables
|
Actions
Giving birth
| Making tea
| Swimming (to make this one harder, make it a particular stroke!)
|
Moving the lawn
| Farting (no, you can't actually fart!)
| Playing any other kind of sport
|
Making the bed
|
"Modern Family": Movie Charades
Try Guesstures, Too!
Guesstures is a fun variation of charades that adds a bit of urgency to the game. It is well worth considering purchasing if you have enough time before your party or event by making your charades game stand out and be memorable. Check out the video below to see it in action.
Celebrities Play a Giant Version of Guesstures
More Ideas
- Halloween Charades Ideas Words List
Halloween is the perfect night for a party, and charades is a perfect party game. It is easy to understand how to play, suitable for all ages and can be played with any number of people. Why not give your game of charades a Halloween twist? - Charades Words List Ideas for Adults
Charades is a fun party game for all age groups, but when you're just playing with adults, it opens up more possibilities because of all the old movies and TV shows you can use. This list has attempted to compile the best TV shows, movies, and books. - Hard Charades Ideas: Movies, TV Shows, Books, and More!
After a challenge in charades? This article's got you covered, with heaps of incredibly difficult tv show, movie and book charades suggestions, and an impossible section down the bottom. Are you up for it? - Charades For Kids Ideas Words List
Over 90 charades ideas specifically selected for kids including movies, television shows, books, and animals, as well as some pre-game questions to make sure the game ends in smiles, not tears.
Comments
This really helped playing and gave great ideas
niggleler
Gahg
Hi
Sorry
My nieces came into town and we had a great time playing charades. Thanks for the great ideas.
1 star
Good
Gharkul list
I love you
Love it
this was helpful
nice one
Cool
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Cool
It was fun
My friends suck at this game so it wasn't fun.
Nice I love these
Thank you for the list, should get the Family laughing on Boxing day!
Cool game
Great hub of ideas for future charades and perhaps gestures too.
That looks like so much fun
Hi everyone I love charades
It was fun for me
This helps a lot.it has a lot of movie chooses. A lot if book characters. And a lot of celebs. I would use this any day if charades was the only game on the planet of earth
This was great fun for me and my family on New Year's Eve ❗️
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Every year all of my sisters and i play games with kids after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. This year we had a ball, This website was the best.
I am having a party June 1 you really helped
cheers having a new years eve party soon needed ideas thanks a lot!!!!!!
Thanks :D Lots Of Help :)
Great ideas for a rainy night on vacation with six teenagers!
- AUTHOR
Added around 50 new charades ideas. There's also plenty more in the other articles I've linked to at the bottom of the page.
nice but put more
Thank you so much! Im having a party tomorrow and i needed idea for charades, You really helped me!
love all the charades ideas!
- AUTHOR
Hi Megan!!!
How about:
Ace of Spades
The early bird catches the worm
Head over heels
Happily ever after
A stitch in time saves nine
i need phrases for charades and i need ideas! any suggestions?
I am having a birthday party and i really needed ideas so thank you so much! :)
- AUTHOR
Thanks for your comment, Maddy! I hope your little boy has a fun party!
this sight was totally helpful. It helped me plan for my little boys party!
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