Charades

party games · acting · teamwork · wordplay

Acting out syllables. The original charades game was more like a puzzle where one person would act out each syllable of a word one at a time, then perform the whole word together, and everyone would guess what it was.

Silent communication only. Modern charades requires players to mime their clues without speaking at all, which means they have to use gestures, facial expressions, and body movements to give hints.

Team-based acting. Players are divided into teams, and each team takes turns acting out phrases while their teammates race to guess what they're performing.

Punny and clever. Puns and visual jokes have always been a big part of charades, where actors get creative with how they show words that sound alike or have double meanings.

Common hand signals. Charades players use traditional gestures like tapping their nose, pointing to their ear, or drawing shapes in the air so everyone understands what they mean.