Acting
Charades
Also called Pinoy Charades, Act It Out, Pantomime
One player acts out a word or title without speaking while their team races to guess it.
- people
- 6–40
- time
- 20 min
- energy
- Medium
- materials
- Household items
Kids-safeHR-safeChurch-safe
Before you start
Write the prompts beforehand and fold them into a bowl. Split the room into two to four teams and put a clear stage spot at the front.
- 1A player draws a slip and acts it out for their own team. No talking, mouthing or pointing at objects in the room.
- 2Agree the standard signals first: number of words with fingers, “sounds like” by tugging an ear, “movie” by cranking a camera.
- 3The team has 60 seconds to guess. A correct guess scores a point.
- 4Teams alternate turns, with a new actor each time. Most points after everyone has acted wins.
Cards for this game34
Edit them now. Host mode deals them one at a time, big enough for the room.
34 cards
- Brushing teeth
- Taking a selfie
- Cooking adobo
- Playing basketball
- Washing clothes
- Fishing
- Singing karaoke
- Driving a car
- Swimming
- Texting
- Dancing Tinikling
- Sleeping on the bus
- Baby crying
- Riding a jeepney
- Playing guitar
- Taking a shower
- Waiting for a late friend
- Eating halo-halo
- Climbing a mountain
- Mopping the floor
- Spider-Man
- Titanic
- The Lion King
- Frozen
- Harry Potter
- Finding Nemo
- Jaws
- Cinderella
- Superman
- Pinocchio
- Traffic enforcer
- Sneezing during a meeting
- Slow-motion race
- Teaching a class
What to say3
- 1“No talking, no mouthing — your body is the only clue!”
- 2“Sixty seconds… go! Ten seconds left!”
- 3“Time! Let's see what it was… oh, so close!”
Host tips3
- Prompts that are too obscure (a 1970s film) leave the actor frozen on stage. Read every slip and ask, “Could my youngest guest and my oldest guest both know this?”
- The loud guessers on each team take over and everyone else watches. Rotate actors strictly and occasionally run a round where only one named teammate may guess.
- Teams in a mixed office split by department turn it into a rivalry. Mix teams with the team tool so juniors and managers play together.
Variants2
Steal
If the acting team runs out of time, the other team gets one guess to steal the point.
Christmas charades
Use only carols, Christmas movies and noche buena dishes for the prompts.
Good for
Occasions
ChristmasBirthdayReunionTeam buildingSchoolRetreat
Venues
Indoor, smallIndoor, largeOfficeChurch hallOnline
If this one dies early7
- Pass the MessageA phrase is whispered down a line of players; the last one says it out loud and everyone hears how wrong it went.
- TabooGet your team to guess a word without saying it or any of the five obvious clue words printed under it.
- Christmas Carol CharadesOne player silently acts out a carol title while their team races to name it before the timer runs out.
- Phone on the ForeheadOne player holds a phone to their forehead showing a word they cannot see; teammates describe or act it out before time runs out.
- Drawing RelayTeams send one artist at a time to the host for a secret word, then race back to draw it until their team guesses.
- FishbowlEveryone writes names into a bowl; teams guess them three times — by description, then one word, then charades.
- Paper TelephoneA phrase becomes a drawing, the drawing becomes a phrase, and so on down the line — then everyone sees how far it drifted.