Heads-Up Charades: How to Play, Category Ideas and How to Give Great Clues

From charades to a phone on your forehead

Word guessing games are far older than phones. In 18th-century France a "charade" was a spoken word riddle posed at parties; over time it became the acted version we know, where one person mimes and the rest guess. It has been a staple of family Christmases, school lessons and TV game shows ever since.

The modern twist puts the word on a phone held to the guesser's forehead. They cannot see it; everyone else can, and shouts clues. The format took off with the Heads Up! app popularised by Ellen DeGeneres in 2013, and it still turns up constantly on YouTube and TikTok because the chaos is so fun to watch.

You can play our version, Tebak Kata, right in the browser. Pick a category, hold the phone to your forehead, tip it forward or to the right for a correct answer, and back or to the left to pass. If your phone's motion sensor will not cooperate, there are tap buttons too.

How to play

The rules are about as simple as games get, which is exactly why everyone from a five-year-old to a grandparent can join in.

• Choose a category and a round length — usually 60, 90 or 120 seconds.
• The guesser holds the phone to their forehead, screen facing out. No peeking!
• Everyone else gives clues without saying the word: describe it, act it, sing it, make the noise.
• Got it? Tip the phone forward or right; the next word appears.
• Too hard? Tip it back or left to pass and move on.
• When time runs out, check which words you got and which you passed, then hand over to the next guesser.

Categories that always work

The category sets the mood. Everyday objects make rounds quick and loud; act-it-out categories get everyone on their feet. Tebak Kata comes with nine ready-made decks, with pictures for the object words:

• Animals — easy to act, great for kids.
• Food & Drink — reliably funny.
• Fruit & Veg — surprisingly confusing, since so many look alike.
• Everyday Things — the challenge is explaining something too ordinary to describe.
• Jobs — perfect for acting, from dentist to traffic warden.
• Vehicles — engine noises encouraged.
• Sports & Hobbies — best played on your feet.
• Places — describe the atmosphere, not the shape.
• Act It Out — mime only, no talking.

More category ideas for your crowd

Making your own deck on paper or elsewhere? Match it to the room. Some that work well:

• Young kids: cartoon characters, school supplies, zoo animals, playground games.
• Teens: viral songs, social media slang, current memes.
• Big family gatherings: classic TV shows, nursery rhymes, holiday traditions.
• Work: meeting jargon ("circle back", "synergy", "deadline"), apps you use, things in the kitchen.
• Film nights: movie titles, TV series, superhero characters.
• Holidays: Christmas films, Halloween costumes, summer holiday essentials.

How to give clues that land fast

A good clue-giver can double a team's score. The trick is not to talk more, but to choose clues that steer the guesser's mind the quickest.

Start broad, then narrow. For "Cat", say "pet" first, then "likes fish, says meow". A guesser finds the answer faster once the space of possibilities shrinks.

Use fill-in-the-blanks. "Twinkle twinkle little ___" gets "star" instantly. Songs, sayings and ad slogans are powerful shortcuts because they are already wired into everyone's memory.

Act, do not just talk. For verbs and jobs, a gesture beats a long explanation.

Do not get stuck. If ten seconds pass with no progress, tell the guesser to pass. One forced hard word costs the time of three easy ones.

Agree signals. Regular teams often invent their own — a tap on the shoulder for "first syllable", say.

How to be a quick guesser

Good guessers do not wait for the perfect clue. Say as many guesses as you can, even half-sure ones. Every wrong guess still helps: your team hears where your head is and can correct course.

Listen hard to the first keyword. If you hear "animal", open the animal drawer in your head and fire off the common ones: cat, dog, chicken. Most words in games like this are everyday words, so the simplest guess is often right — the same principle as in our strategy for five-letter word games: start with the likely, not the clever.

Example words from easy to hard

Word difficulty makes or breaks a round. Too easy and it feels flat; too hard and the guesser gets frustrated. The best rounds are a mix: mostly easy, a few medium, and one or two hard words as a surprise.

• Easy: cat, bicycle, banana, broom, doctor, ball, beach. Almost anyone can explain them in one sentence.
• Medium: calculator, firefighter, badminton, cable car, pharmacist. Two or three clues needed.
• Hard: eclipse, architect, traffic light, submarine, aquarium. They need creativity or acting.
• Very hard (bonus round): nostalgia, gravity, democracy, pride. Abstract words force clue-givers to get really creative.

Common mistakes that cost points

Everyone shouting at once. Five people yelling different clues just confuses the guesser. It works better when one or two people give the main clues and the rest help with gestures.

Saying part of the word. For "submarine", "a marine boat that goes under" is really using the word. Agree at the start whether word parts are allowed.

A guesser who waits too long. Waiting to be 100 percent sure wastes seconds. Guess fast; being wrong costs nothing.

Rule twists that make it louder

After a few rounds a group starts to learn each other's tricks. Try one of these twists to keep it fresh and chaotic:

• Mime only. No speaking at all — ideal for the Act It Out deck.
• One-word clues. Each clue can only be a single word.
• Team battle. Split into two teams with Team Maker and compare scores each round; the losing team picks its own light forfeit.
• Whisper mode. All clues must be whispered — perfect late at night.
• Relay. After every correct word, the phone passes to the next guesser without stopping the clock.

How to make your own charades cards

If you want a category no app has — classmates' names, your office's in-jokes — make cards on paper. Cut 30 to 50 slips, write one word on each, and drop them in a glass or a hat. The guesser draws one without looking and holds it to their forehead with a bit of tape, or simply holds it up facing the group.

A few rules keep homemade decks fun: stick to nouns and verbs you can describe or act, avoid names not everyone knows, and mix the difficulty. Words about your own group are almost always the funniest, as long as they do not upset anyone.

The paper version has no timer or automatic score, and words can be glimpsed when drawn. That is why many groups use an app for the main rounds and paper slips for a bonus round of in-jokes.

Why it is great for kids and families

Under the noise, charades trains a lot: vocabulary, explaining things clearly, teamwork, and thinking quickly against the clock. Kids learn to describe things in their own words; adults are forced out of long-winded habits. If the science interests you, read about thinking fast under pressure.

Most importantly, nobody needs special skills. A grandparent and a grandchild can be on the same team and both score. For more games that work with a crowd, see our guide to party games for groups.