Fill the Bowl
- Everyone writes words or phrases on slips of paper — no more than 4 words per slip, and around 3 slips per person works nicely.
- Keep them secret: don't show or tell anyone what you're writing.
- Write legibly, and try not to be too obscure — stick to common knowledge, in English.
- Fold each slip in half and drop it in the bowl.
Forgive and forget
Microphone
It was the dog
Spicy mustard
Form the Teams
- Divide into two teams, each led by a captain.
- Captains pick players schoolyard style — a coin flip decides who picks first.
- Pick team names!
How Every Round Works
- Teams take turns. On your turn, you have 60 seconds to help your team guess as many slips as possible.
- Every correct guess scores your team a point.
- Guesses must be exact — every word on the slip, in order, spoken by your team. If the slip says “I broke my elbow” and the timer ends with only “broke my elbow” guessed, it doesn't count.
- You may skip a slip, but it costs your team a point. Set skipped slips aside, separate from both the bowl and the guessed pile.
- Pay attention and remember what's been guessed — the same slips come back in later rounds, and it's impossible to win if you don't.
- The game is played in four rounds, each emptying the bowl before the next begins.
The Four Rounds
Round 1 · Talk
- Describe the slip using only verbal cues — words that aren't on the slip.
- Once your team guesses one of the slip's words, you may say that word; the rest stay forbidden until guessed.
- Penalty: saying a word on the slip, or acting it out, loses a point and sends the slip back into the bowl.
Round 2 · Act
- Charades — bodily actions only.
- No pointing at objects or people in the room that are on the slip; even eye gestures count as pointing.
- Penalty: any words, noises, or pointing loses a point — words and noises also send the slip back into the bowl.
Round 3 · One Word
- Choose a single hint word carefully, say it, and sit still.
- You may repeat your word, but nothing else.
- Penalty: more than one word, any noises, or acting it out loses a point and sends the slip back into the bowl.
Round 4 · Sound Effects
- Sound effects only — no words, no acting, body stays still.
- The sonic twin of Round 3: paint the slip with nothing but sound.
- Penalty: words or acting loses a point and sends the slip back into the bowl.