Making your own charades word lists is fun — until the prompts turn out lopsided. One round is too easy, the next is obscure, and suddenly the room feels stuck. The fix is a simple framework: clear themes, fair difficulty, and just enough variety to keep everyone moving. Use this guide to design lists that feel effortless for families, adult parties, classrooms, and remote teams.

If you’d rather skip the prep, open /play for instant words and levels.

Start with a theme

Themes focus creativity and make acting more expressive. Try Animals, Actions, Movies & TV, Sports, Travel, Office Life, or Music. For special events, pick a custom theme — ‘90s throwback, around the world, or hometown pride.

Build a difficulty ladder

Create three tiers for each list:

• Easy: concrete nouns and everyday actions (cat, popcorn, sweeping).
• Medium: occupations, sports, simple titles (astronaut, penalty kick, The Lion King).
• Hard: abstract ideas and multi‑word phrases (plot twist, undercover agent).

Aim for a 40/40/20 split (easy/medium/hard) for casual groups, and 30/40/30 for competitive players.

Draft 8–12 prompts per round

Short rounds with fewer prompts keep momentum high. If you need more, stack multiple themed rounds instead of one long grab‑bag list.

Sample lists

Animals

Easy: Cat, Dog, Penguin, Monkey
Medium: Dolphin, Kangaroo, Owl
Hard: Chameleon, Rhinoceros

Actions

Easy: Brushing teeth, Reading a book
Medium: Flying a kite, Baking cookies
Hard: Parallel parking

Movies & TV

Easy: Frozen, The Lion King
Medium: Jurassic Park, Titanic
Hard: Back to the Future

Playtest quickly

Run a 5‑minute mini‑round with a few friends. If guesses stall, swap in simpler prompts. If teams breeze through, add a couple of trickier ones.

Printing vs. digital

Paper lists are great for backyard nights. For online or mixed groups, digital tools keep things fair and fast — no duplications, no misread handwriting, built‑in timers.

Either way, the principles are the same: clear themes, gentle ramps, and short, punchy rounds.

Design a list tonight — or skip straight to the fun in /play.