Harder words for charades tend to be abstract concepts because they are hard to figure out concrete geatures for.

Some of these words could be:

• Hierarchy
• Government
• Hypothesis
• Friendship

A great clue will be one that is difficult to guess at the time, but will be obvious in hindsight. Inside jokes from the group, or references that everyone in the group will know.

In terms of rules, typically the group will have a list of words to guess. These words could come from an online list or sources from the group (e.g. everyone playing writes 10 words on a slip of paper). The group is then typically split into teams.

During play, a player from a team will choose a word at random and then try to get their team to guess the word (no sounds or noises at all), within the time limit (typically a minute or less).

Play continues until a certain score is reached, the words run out, or players stop having fun.

Typical variations:

• Players have a set amount of time (e.g. 90 seconds) and try to get their team to guess as many words as possible in turn to allow for multiple points to be scored per round.
• A non-competitive version of the game can be played where there are no teams and no time limits.
• Opposing teams can guess the word as well and if they do the player’s team doesn’t score.

Notes & Tips:

• A common vocabulary has developed over time for certain concepts (e.g. “movie”, “book”, “# of syllables”). If you want to be competitive you can try to learn some these.
• Pointing at objects in the room to help your team guess is sometimes allowed and sometimes not.
• Try not to take it to seriously. It’s meant to be a fun way to socialize and interact with your friends / family, so teams or words will likely be unbalanced.

Hope this helps!