Act It Out: Online Charades for Groups
Charades where the other team picks your word. Only your screen shows it.
Party · 4 to 16 players · about 15 minutes · free to host, nothing to download, TV optional
About the game
Charades, with a twist: the other team picks the first thing your actor has to perform each turn. Act It Out is for 4 to 16 players split into Blue and Red, and a game at the default settings takes around 15 minutes. It is liveliest with 6 to 12, when both teams have a few people shouting guesses.
Only the actor's screen shows the word, so a TV is optional; it shows the clock and scores, never the word. On a video call, everyone opens the room on their own device, picks "Just this screen", and the actor simply stays on camera.
How to play
- Split into two teams. Before each turn, every player on the other team may type a word or short phrase for your actor, then they vote on the suggestions. If nobody suggests anything, the deck picks. The timer starts as soon as the word is chosen.
- Act the word without speaking while teammates guess out loud. Mark each correct answer on your screen, or skip a word you cannot act (up to three skips a turn). After the first word, the next ones come from our own deck until time runs out.
- Each correct answer earns one point. Teams alternate turns and the actor rotates within each team. Highest team total after the last turn wins.
Open a room for Act It Out. No app, no accounts, free to host.
Tips to play well
- When suggesting, think about what is hard to mime but still fair. Abstract ideas and long film titles slow an actor down, and you have up to 40 characters to work with.
- The suggested word is only the first of the turn. Once your team gets it, the deck takes over, so act it fast and use the rest of the clock to rack up easier deck words.
- Skips are free but limited to three a turn. Save them for deck words that are truly impossible to act, not ones that just need a second idea.
- Agree simple signals before you start: fingers for the number of words, a tug of the ear for "sounds like". The game does not police gestures, so your group sets the rules.
Host settings
- Seconds per turn: 45 to 120 seconds in steps of 5. The default is 60.
- Turns per team: 2 to 6, with 3 by default. Each team's actor rotates, so more turns means more people get to perform.
- Seconds to suggest a word: 15 to 30 seconds, 20 by default. If two or more words are suggested, the other team gets 15 seconds to vote; a tie is settled at random.
Questions people ask
Can we choose our own words?
Yes, for the first word of each turn. The opposing team types and votes on it. Every word after that comes from our own deck of 120 English words.
How is it different from regular charades?
The rules of acting are the same. The difference is that the other team chooses the first word of each turn, the clock and scores are handled for you, and only the actor can see what to act.
Is it good for kids?
Yes, acting is easy for children to join in with. A grown-up on the opposing team can keep the suggestions age appropriate, and our deck words (animals, actions, films, objects and jobs) are family friendly.
Can we add computer players?
The host can add bots to even out the teams. They suggest and vote, and as actors they mark words got or skipped on a timer, so they cannot actually act.
Similar games
- Face Up: Hold your screen to your forehead. Everyone describes, you guess out loud. 3 to 12 players, about 10 minutes.
- Hush: Describe the word without the six forbidden ones. The other team buzzes slips. 4 to 16 players, about 15 minutes.
- Scrawl: Draw on your screen, it appears on the TV, everyone else guesses on theirs. 3 to 16 players, about 15 minutes.
Guides
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