What Charades is
The classic, minus the homework: a thousand-word deck of movies, shows, famous people and more. Act it out, beat the clock, most words wins.
The word reaches the actor’s phone and nowhere else. Every other screen in the room shows the category — “It’s a movie” — which is the thing a charades player mimes first anyway, so the announcement is out of the way before the acting starts.
Five packs of 230 words each: Movies, TV Shows, Famous People, Objects and a Random grab-bag. The host picks which are in play, and the room remembers what it has already acted, so your second game deals words nobody has seen.
Turns are handed out evenly whatever the teams look like. With five players the smaller side simply wraps round to somebody who has already been up, so nobody gets a free extra go for sitting on the bigger team.
How to play Charades
- Two teams. One actor takes the stage while their team guesses.
- The word appears only on the actor’s phone — everyone else’s shows the category.
- No talking, no sounds, no mouthing words. Just act.
- Tap They got it to score, Skip to try another. A point per word before the buzzer.
- Teams alternate until everyone has acted. Most words wins.
How to win at Charades
Skip early rather than late
A skipped word drops to the bottom of the deck and will not return this turn, so stalling on it costs more than dropping it.
The category is already public
Nobody needs telling it is a film, so spend the opening seconds on the part only your phone can see.
Act the words, not the title
Long titles die whole — break them into pieces and let your team assemble the thing themselves.
Opening a hard word is safe
Whatever is on screen when the buzzer goes returns to the deck for somebody else, so there is no cost to starting one late.
Trim the packs to your table
Objects act out fastest and Famous People only work if the room knows the person, so switch off whichever will stall your friends.
Need a word to act?
Open the word generatorQuestions about Charades
What do the other players see while someone acts?
The category and nothing else. Every phone but the actor’s says which pack the word came from — “It’s a TV show” — because in charades that gets announced anyway.
Do words repeat between games?
Every word that has reached an actor’s screen is remembered, and the next game in the same room deals around them. Only once the chosen packs genuinely run dry does the deck start over.
How many turns does each player get?
Both teams always get the same number, set by the host at one, two or three times on stage each. With uneven teams the smaller side wraps and somebody goes up an extra time.
What happens to a word we skip?
It goes to the bottom of the deck, so it can surface for another actor later. The same is true of whatever is on screen when the buzzer sounds.
Is Charades free?
Yes. Every game on Table Party is free, with no accounts, no adverts and nothing to buy.
How many people do you need for Charades?
Between 4 and 12. Below 4 there are not enough of you for the game to work.
Do we need to download anything?
No. One person opens the site and starts a room; everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for.
Can we play Charades over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.