Hard Charades Ideas: Movies, TV Shows, Books, and More
Kristy Callan enjoys coming up with fun ideas for the holidays ranging from charades lists to party games.

Are you looking for a true challenge for your next charades game? Try these words from books, movies, and more.
Welcome! I assume you're after a challenge of the charades variety? Well, the first thing you must do is choose your topic. You want something hard, so people don't guess it straight away, but not something so obscure that people still don't know what you were doing after you've told them the solution. When choosing a topic to act out from the list below, think about the people you are playing with. If it is unlikely they've heard of it before, choose something else.
How to Play Charades
Since you're on a list of charades challenges, I assume that you already know the rules. (If not, and this is your first game, aren't you a daredevil!) So, this is just a quick refresher of the rules:
The gist of charades entails acting and guessing.
- You must act out something (remember, you absolutely cannot speak). The "something" can be a book, television show, movie, celebrity, fictional character, object, or anything else you can think of.
- The others try to guess what it is that you're acting out.
- The first person to guess your word or phrase earns a point.
- The winner is the one with the most points at the end of the game.
If you prefer, you can also divide players into teams. The rules are nearly the same as above, except that players will be acting out phrases for their teammates. The team with the most points wins.
Challenging Book Titles to Act Out
A-I | J-N | O-Z |
---|---|---|
The Bible | To Kill A Mockingbird | The Power of One: A Novel |
The Da Vinci Code | Les Miserables | Sarah's Key |
Fablehaven | The Lost Symbol | The Scarlet Letter |
Flipped | My Sister's Keeper | The Thirteenth Tale |
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest | Nicholas Nickleby | War and Peace |
The Iliad | Nineteen Minutes | Where the Crawdads Sing |
Difficult TV Show Ideas for Charades
A-D | E-F | G-Z |
---|---|---|
Alias | Entourage | Monk |
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Firefly | Mythbusters |
Desperate Housewives | Flight of the Conchords | Reno 911! |
Dexter | Friday Night Lights | Veronica Mars |
Hard Movie Titles to Act Out
A-C | D-M | N-Z |
---|---|---|
Amelie | Goodfellas | Ocean's Thirteen |
The Apartment | Inglourious Basterds | Pulp Fiction |
Beetlejuice | The King's Speech | The Sting |
Casablanca | The Matrix | Thelma and Louise |
City of God | Morning Glory | Witness for the Prosecution |
Miscellaneous, Incredibly Complicated Challenges
A-D | E-N | O-Z |
---|---|---|
Allergy | Hole puncher | Paper |
Cotton ball | Lamp | Purple |
Desk | Mark Zuckerberg | Silver |
Dixie Chicks | Nectarine | Tree |
Comments
Someone on February 09, 2019:
Is reindeer hard?
Jerine George on September 16, 2017:
I got one 2001; A Space Odyssey
Elle on December 31, 2014:
You should add dirt! And you should add a movie director! :)
Gay on December 11, 2014:
you guys are awesome
Kristy Callan (author) from Australia on February 12, 2013:
Thanks for commenting, Gianna! I've added tree to the list :)
gianna on February 12, 2013:
the bible a good one i got one a tree