Family Games: Charades
Winning Plays
Charades is believed to have originated in France in the eighteenth century as a riddle game. The goal of the game was to come up with a word or phrase by trying to figure out the riddle. The riddles were given either in prose or in rhyme.
Here is an example:
“My first is a Tartar,
My second a letter;
My all is a country,
No Christmas dish better.”
(The answer is Turkey.)
The word version of the Charade game later evolved into an acted game where players had to guess the word or phrase by watching others act them out. That is the version of the game we are most familiar with today.
Charades is often played as an after-dinner entertainment at adult parties. But with a bit of coaching, kids can join in, making it a great family party game. While it started out as a riddle game where you guessed a word, it eventually evolved into the acting game we are familiar with today.
Charade Parade
Here is what you will need:
- A stopwatch or watch with a minute hand to time each charade
- A pen and paper to keep score
- Index cards to write words, sentences, phrases, names of people (your charade cards)
- A neutral player to keep the time and score
The point of the game is for players to act out a word, an idea, quotation, name of a person, name of a book, movie, or television show, in the shortest amount of time possible. Players should split up into two teams.
You should write-up the charades on index cards in one of two ways: You can write up the cards in advance—if you do this, you won't be able to play because you'll know the answers. If you choose to write them up before the game, then you should also be the neutral party that keeps the time and score. That way you have a part to play in the game but not in the guessing of the charades.
The other way you can write up charades is to have team 1 write up the charades for team 2 and vice versa. That way you ensure that team 1 and team 2 will not be acting charades that they already know. Each card can also have a theme written on it—something that will help the teams focus on a certain idea so the guessing doesn't take too long.
Winning Plays
Acted Charades is believed to have originated in England. In fact, William Makepeace Thackeray makes reference to the game of acted Charades in his 1848 novel Vanity Fair. The game enjoyed a boost in popularity in the 1930s and then again after World War II. It was a party game then and remains a party game today.
To start the game, each team designates a leader. It is the goal of the leader's team to guess the charade that he or she is acting out. The leader cannot use his or her voice in any way and cannot point to any inanimate object in the room as a means to aid the guessers. The secret word or phrase must be completely acted out. The guessing begins the second the acting begins. This is where things can get really rowdy. The closer the team gets to the answer, and the shorter the time left, you'll find people yelling and waving and laughing their heads off.
Team members can shout out randomly what they think the syllable, word, or sentence is. The other players should also try to listen to the guesses made by other players because every guess could stimulate other ideas—and you don't want to repeat the same guess over and over again. When a team member gets something right the actor can point to that team member and nod, then move onto the next syllable or word.
Three Strikes
The opposing team is not allowed to shout out any guesses and may not do anything to derail the team doing the guessing. So tell them to butt out and follow the rules!
If the team successfully guesses the answer, the person who comes out with the final word or sentence gets to do the acting, and that team continues play. If the team doesn't guess the answer and time is up, the next team takes the stage with a new word or sentence.
You can play charades in large or small groups. Most commonly it is played by a small group in a living room setting.
What's Your Sign?
It is important that all players involved know certain hand signals.
- Movies: Use one hand to shade your eyes and the other to pretend you're winding the film of a camera—squint one eye as though you're looking through a viewfinder.
- Book: Hold your palms together as though in prayer and open and close them as you would a book.
- TV show: With your finger in the air, draw an imaginary square in the air. Some people indicate that it's a TV show, by pretending to point a remote control.
- Quote or phrase: Make quotation marks in the air with your fingers.
- One finger means first word: Once everyone says “first word,” you can start acting out the word. If no one is getting it, you can act out the first syllable.
- Syllables: First indicate how many syllables are in the word by laying the like number of fingers across your forearm—so if the word has two syllables, lay two fingers on your forearm. When everyone says “two syllables” indicate that you will act out the first syllable first by then laying one finger on your forearm.
- Length of word: Make a little or big sign using your two hands (like you're measuring a fish).
- Sounds like: Cup one hand behind an ear. This means that you will act out a word that rhymes with the original word.
High Score
Whether you have a neutral party or an egg timer, it's a good idea to establish how long you think each actor should get—usually three minutes is adequate. You don't want to give too much time because that takes the tension out of the play—and too little time might be frustrating for all players involved. You may find you need to play a couple of rounds before you figure out the right timing.
Some gestures you're just going to have to make up. There are only so many universal gestures you can establish in advance.
Act your heart out, as fast as you can, and hope your teammates figure out your waving, bending, hopping, skipping, and grimacing.
Ready, Set, Act!
Establish which team will go first by drawing a name from a hat: team 1 or team 2. The leader of the team that is going to go first pulls one of the index cards from the pile. The card will have a word, sentence, phrase, or person indicated on it (you will have to prepare these cards in advance of the game). The leader of team 1 then stands at the front of the room, or wherever your designated “stage” is located, and play begins.
Once the leader of team 1 has read the card and takes his or her place, the timekeeper clicks the stopwatch and the team 1 leader has to start to act—there's no time to waste.
The timekeeper can either be a neutral party (someone not involved in play) or a member of the opposite team who can concentrate on the time and not on the play. Make sure it's someone trustworthy! The timekeeper is responsible for saying “start” to begin play and “stop” when the clock runs out.
Score!
There are several different scoring methods you can use.
Winning Plays
There are several versions of charades you can play; one of the funniest I've heard of is Hip Charades. Each team leader spells out a word in the air using … you got it … his or her hips. This game can have some really funny moments.
Each time your team wins a game you score a point. You can play as many rounds as you want. You can set a point limit also—let's say the first team to win 10 points is the winner.
Another way to score is to have the timekeeper record the amount of time it takes to guess the answer. For example, when a team guesses the answer, the time it took them to guess is recorded by the timekeeper (this is why you may need a neutral party). If the answer is not guessed before time is up, three minutes is marked down on the score sheet.
To determine the winner, you add up the times. The team with the lower score is the winner—because it took them the least amount of combined minutes to guess the answers.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Family Games © 2002 by BookEnds, LLC. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
To order this book visit the Idiot's Guide web site or call 1-800-253-6476.
