Easy: the warm-up card
- Input
- pt-BR: Rena | en-US: Reindeer
- Expected output
- ★☆☆
Two open hands beside the head like antlers and a trot in place. It usually lands in under 10 seconds.
Charades
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christmas charades words
Christmas Charades: Words and Rules to Play
Christmas charades works like this: whoever is up sees a card on screen, acts it out without speaking, and the group has 30, 60 or 90 seconds to guess. The Christmas category holds 130 English words, 45 easy, 52 medium and 33 hard, from reindeer and string lights to Ebenezer Scrooge and New Year resolutions. Below you will find the rules in five steps, the point math and five real cards from the deck.
How to play Christmas charades, step by step
- The rules come in five steps. First, split the group into two or more teams and pick the Christmas category. Second, whoever is up reads the card on their own phone and acts it out without speaking, making sounds or pointing at anything that has the word written on it. Third, that person's team gets the chosen time, 30, 60 or 90 seconds, to guess as many cards as possible. Fourth, each correct guess is worth 1 point, and from the third correct guess in a row each new one earns 1 extra bonus point. Fifth, a stuck player passes the card: the game gives 3 free passes per round (adjustable from 0 to 10) and every pass beyond that costs 1 point.
- The math of a round is simple enough to do in your head. Seven correct guesses in a row with no pass earn 7 points plus 5 in bonuses (from the third to the seventh guess), which makes 12 points. Three correct guesses and one pass are worth 3 points plus 1 bonus, 4 in total, and the pass resets the streak: the bonus only returns after three more correct guesses in a row. That is why it pays to drop a stuck card early, while free passes remain, instead of burning 20 seconds acting out something nobody is getting.
- The English Christmas deck has three tiers. The 45 easy cards are figures and gestures everyone recognizes, like reindeer, elf and wrapping a present. The 52 medium cards are small holiday scenes, like burning the turkey, untangling Christmas lights and a white elephant gift swap. The 33 hard cards ask for an idea, like gratitude, awkward family conversation and Ebenezer Scrooge. The game does not repeat a card inside the same category and difficulty filter until every one has come up, so a whole evening of rounds never brings the same word twice.
Five real cards from the Christmas deck
Medium: a hands-on mess
- Input
- pt-BR: Pular sete ondas | en-US: Untangling Christmas lights
- Expected output
- ★★☆
Pull an invisible knot apart with both hands, then hold up a long cord and look defeated. Anyone who has done it will get it fast.
Medium: the dinner disaster
- Input
- pt-BR: Queimar o peru | en-US: Burning the turkey
- Expected output
- ★★☆
Open an imaginary oven, jump back from the smoke and flap a dish towel. The panicked face does half the work.
Hard: an idea, not an object
- Input
- pt-BR: Saudade da família | en-US: Awkward family conversation
- Expected output
- ★★★
Mime two people leaning in, one talking, the other searching for an exit. Agree on a house rule first: pointing at people in the room is allowed.
Hard: a whole character
- Input
- pt-BR: Ebenezer Scrooge | en-US: Ebenezer Scrooge
- Expected output
- ★★★
The name reads the same in the English and Portuguese decks. Hunched back, a fist closed over imaginary coins, the face of someone who hates parties.
Full game FAQ
Yes. Every word is chosen to be easy to act out and appropriate for all audiences, including families and children. Use the "Easy" difficulty filter for an even gentler game for younger players.
Frequently asked questions
How many Christmas charades words does the game have?
There are 130 in English, split into 45 easy, 52 medium and 33 hard, and 139 in Portuguese (44, 61 and 34). The two decks were written separately: English has ugly sweaters, caroling and white elephant, Portuguese has jumping seven waves and rice with raisins.
How are points counted?
Each correct guess is worth 1 point. From the third correct guess in a row, every new one adds 1 bonus point. The first 3 passes in a round are free (the number is adjustable from 0 to 10) and each extra pass takes away 1 point. The round points go to the scoreboard of the team you pick.
What is forehead mode?
It is an option to hold the phone against your forehead with the screen facing the group: tilting forward counts a correct guess and tilting back counts a pass. The buttons keep working, and on browsers without a tilt sensor the game says so and uses buttons only.
Can the same card show up twice in one evening?
Only after every card in the same filter has been used. With the Christmas category on All difficulty, that is 130 cards before any repeat; filtering to easy only gives 45. Progress shows as "X of Y in this category" during the round.