Play Charades Online with Friends
Charades online works like the party game you already know: one player acts out a secret prompt without saying a word, and everyone else calls out guesses until someone gets it. The prompts are short things to act out, like surfing, a penguin or baking a cake. The game comes up with a new one every turn and shows it only on the actor's screen, so there are no slips of paper to write and nobody has to sit out to run it.
On Game Night Central it runs in the browser, free. The host opens a room and shares the 4-letter code, and everyone joins on their own phone, tablet or laptop, around one table or spread out on a video call. The game picks who acts next at random, and when someone guesses the prompt, the actor taps their name and the game adds the points. For virtual charades, keep Zoom, Google Meet or Discord open so everyone can see the actor. Everyone can play for their own score, or, with free accounts, the room can split into two teams that take turns acting.
How to Play Charades
- The host opens a room, shares the code and chooses Charades. Before the first turn they pick Solo, where everyone plays for their own score, or Teams, then Easy, Medium or Hard and, if they like, a themed word pack. You need at least 2 players.
- The host starts the turn. The game picks an actor at random and shows the prompt on the actor's screen only. Everyone else just sees who is acting.
- The actor acts the prompt out without speaking, and the others call out guesses, around the table or on the call. In Teams mode only the actor's teammates guess. The game puts no time limit on a turn.
- When someone says it, the actor taps that player's name. The guesser scores 10 points and the actor scores 5.
- If nobody can get it, the host can end the turn and show the answer instead, and nobody scores.
- Either way, the prompt now shows on every screen. The host starts the next turn, and the game picks a new actor and a new prompt.
A Sample Round
Five friends play in Solo mode over a video call: Lucy (the host), Omar, Nina, Tess and Ben. Lucy starts the turn, the game picks Omar to act, and only Omar's screen shows the prompt: Shoveling snow. Everyone else's screen just says Omar is acting.
- TessDigging a hole?Close. Omar points at her and keeps going
- BenGardening?
- LucyWinter?Omar has started shivering
- NinaShoveling snow!Omar taps Nina's name
Nina scores 10 points and Omar scores 5. Tess was close, but only the player the actor taps scores. The prompt now shows on every screen, and Lucy starts the next turn, where the game picks a new actor at random from everyone except Omar.
Rules of Engagement
- 01You need at least 2 players, one to act and one to guess, and the game is made for up to 12.
- 02Only the actor sees the prompt, and they act it out without speaking.
- 03Guesses are said out loud, not typed. The actor decides who got it and taps that player's name, and only that player scores for the guess.
- 04A correct guess scores 10 points for the guesser and 5 for the actor. If the host ends the turn and shows the answer, nobody scores.
- 05In Teams mode the two teams take turns acting, only the actor's teammates can guess, and each solved prompt also adds 10 points to the acting team's score.
- 06A turn has no time limit, and there is no set number of turns or target score. Points add up next to each player's name in the room, and you stop whenever you like.
- 07Teams mode needs a free account for the host and for every player on a team. Solo mode is open to everyone, guests included.
Strategic Intelligence
- As the actor, show what kind of thing it is first. Prompts are often an action, an animal, a job or a feeling, and knowing which one cuts the guesses down fast.
- Agree on a couple of signs before the first turn, like holding up fingers for the number of words. Plenty of prompts are two or three words, such as walking a dog.
- Watch the guessers, not the floor. When someone is close, point at them and act that part bigger.
- When you are guessing, say whatever comes to mind. A half-right guess gives the actor something to build on, and silence gives them nothing.
- On a video call, read the prompt on your phone and act in front of your laptop camera, standing far enough back that the others can see your whole body.
Tactical Suitability
For families, friends and coworkers who want a game that gets people out of their chairs, at a party or on a team video call. There is nothing to prepare, and nobody is stuck reading out prompts instead of playing. Easy prompts keep to everyday actions, which suits younger players, and Hard ones give a group that has played before something to work at. You can stop after any turn, so it works as a warm-up before a longer game or as the whole evening.
Module FAQ
Technical Protocol Assistance