Free Game: Telephone Charades

Supplies

• None needed (though optional: paper and pen for pre-written action ideas)

Game Overview

Telephone Charades is a hilarious, body-language-only game that combines the whisper-chain fun of telephone with the expressive antics of charades. Players must pass an action silently down a line using only gestures—see how much gets lost (or added!) along the way.

Set Up

1. Divide the group into two equal teams.

2. Send Team A to a separate room (out of earshot and view).

3. Team B becomes the “Action Creators.” They’ll think up silly actions for Team A to act out. (Examples: “a fish flopping on land,” “riding a unicycle,” “a cat stuck in a tree”).

4. Choose one action for the round (best if 3–5 words long).

Game Play

1. Invite one player from Team A into Team B’s room.

2. Quietly show or tell that Team A player the chosen action.

3. That player now returns to Team A’s room and acts out the motion to the next person in line without any speaking or sound.

4. That person watches the performance, then turns to the next person and repeats the same action using only gestures.

5. The action continues down the line until the last person guesses what they think it was.

6. Reveal the original action to everyone and enjoy the laugh at how it changed!

7. Swap roles: Team B now becomes the performers, and Team A creates the next action.

Rules

• No speaking, mouthing words, or sound effects.

• Each player gets to watch the action only once before performing it for the next person.

• Players must use full-body gestures—no props or pointing to objects in the room.

• Encourage creativity, but actions should be clear enough to mime in a few seconds.

Bonus Tips

• Use a timer (e.g., 30 seconds per turn) to keep the game moving.

• Write actions on slips of paper ahead of time to make it faster.

• Start with easier actions and escalate to wilder or more abstract ones.

• Record the final guesses—they can be funny to compare with the original!