How to Play Charades with Phones: Rules, Scoring and Acting Tips

Charades is the immortal party classic with one eternal weak spot: someone has to write the words, hold the bowl and watch the clock. Charades on Kafedeyim hands all three jobs to the phone — the acting and the laughing stay exactly where they belong, at the table.

What the game is

When your turn comes, a secret word appears on your phone: a film, a job, an idiom… You show no one. Talking is banned; hands, face and full theatre are encouraged. The table shouts guesses out loud. The moment the right answer flies, you hit "They got it!": +1 point and a fresh word instantly. However many words you land in 90 seconds is your haul.

Setup: no paper slips, just a QR code

One person creates a table, a QR code appears, everyone scans it and types a name. No app to install, no account to make. Plays with 3–12 people, and the word pool comes in the table's language.

The rules, step by step

1. A random player opens the show; everyone takes the stage in turn.
2. The actor gets 90 seconds; only they can see the word.
3. Table guesses it: "They got it!" — +1 point, next word immediately.
4. Stuck? You can pass up to 3 times; a passed word is never revealed — it slides quietly to the bottom of the deck and may ambush someone else later.
5. When time runs out, a short breather screen reveals the round's guessed words, and the next player takes the stage.

Once everyone has acted, the highest score wins. Long evening? Pick the "twice" mode and everyone performs two rounds.

Who gets the points?

The actor does: every word your table guesses lands in your column. So guess generously — when it's your turn, you'll want that same energy back.

Acting tips

• Frame it first. Film or job? How many words? Spend the first three seconds on the classic signals so the table tunes to the right channel.
• Break it up. "Butterfly" is hard whole, easy as "butter" + "flapping wings". Split long words into chunks and idioms into words.
• Go big. Nobody ever lost a point for overacting; a huge gesture always lands before a subtle one.
• Pass late, but do pass. Grinding 20 seconds on one stubborn word costs you the points of two easy ones.

The next game is one tap away

When the round ends, the table doesn't have to: in Party Mode the host picks the next game on the same room code, points accumulate all night, and the loser spins the penalty wheel.

The stage is yours: set up a Charades table, silence your voice, and let your hands do the talking.