Charades Generator: Spin for Movies, Animals, Famous People and More

1. 1Choose the words. Open the Entries tab. Tap All words or one category. A tap on one category narrows the wheel to it, a tap on more categories adds them, and a tap on an added category removes it again. Then pick a Level under the result: All, Easy, Medium or Hard.
2. 2Set the turn length. The menu next to the clock offers 30, 60, 90 and 120 seconds, and starts at 90. Switch on Start on result in the Entries tab if the clock should start by itself when the wheel stops.
3. 3Spin. Press Spin, click the wheel or press Space. The card is headed Act this out.
4. 4Act without talking. The group guesses until the clock reaches zero. The timer then reads "Time is up. Next player." and plays a short sound, unless End sound is switched off.
5. 5Spin again for the next player. A new word puts the clock back to the full turn.

On a phone, the word lists, the Level control and the timer sit under the Spin button.

The timer is only a clock. It does not hear guesses, so the group decides when a word has been guessed.

Agree the house rules before the first turn. The card tips already set some: no talking and no pointing at things in the room for Actions, and no sounds for Animals. Decide the rest yourselves, such as whether passing is allowed and how many words each player acts per turn.

The 254 words sit in eight categories. Every card repeats its category's acting tip, so a new player knows the rule for that kind of word.

Easy has 85 words, Medium has 87 and Hard has 82. Easy words need one clear movement or a familiar prop: Swimming, Monkey, Doctor, Soccer, Frozen. Hard words need several steps, or a small movement that is easy to mistake for something else: Threading a needle, Octopus, Air traffic controller, Origami. The levels are our own judgment, not measured from games, so untick any word that is too easy or too hard for your group.

Under the category buttons, the Words list shows every word in the chosen lists with its level. Untick a word to take it off the wheel, type in Find a word to look one up, or use Tick all and Untick all for the words listed.

All 254 words on one wheel is crowded. The panel shows a hint when more than 60 slices are on the wheel and suggests one list or one level. The wheel still spins, it is just harder to read.

The wheel has no kids switch or age filter, so a family wheel takes a few taps. Set Level to Easy, then tap Animals, Actions and Everyday scenes. That leaves 33 words such as Monkey, Swimming and At the playground.

• Children who cannot read yet. With Mystery result on, a grown-up can spin, press Reveal answer out of the group's sight and whisper the word to the child.
• Turn length. The timer menu goes up to 120 seconds, which gives younger players more time.
• Movies. The Movies list mixes Frozen and Toy Story with Jaws, Gladiator and Dirty Dancing. For young children, leave Movies off or untick the titles you would skip in the Words list.

For a family of mixed ages, Medium with Animals, Jobs and Stories and characters gives 30 familiar words such as Giraffe, Plumber and Goldilocks. Adding Movies makes 40. If the youngest player's turns should be easier, switch Level to Easy for those turns. Changing Level rebuilds the wheel, which also puts back any words that Elimination had removed.

To split the family into teams, use the Random Team Generator, and flip a coin to see which team acts first.

There is no adult mode, and none of the words is meant to be rude. The funny words are the Hard ones that are small, everyday disasters. Set Level to Hard, then tap Everyday scenes and Actions. That makes 22 words, including Sneezing in a quiet library, Waiting for slow Wi-Fi, Untangling headphones, Carrying a full cup of coffee, Tripping on a rug and Parallel parking. Most people have lived through them, so the actor can overplay every detail. For impressions, tap Famous people and leave Level on All: 36 names, with Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin and Freddie Mercury among the Easy ones.

Three house rules change any word, and none of them is a setting in the tool:

• Slow motion. The actor performs the whole word at half speed.
• Pairs. Two actors share one word and do not talk to each other.
• Thirty seconds. Pick 30 sec in the timer menu for a frantic round.

Inside jokes beat any built-in list. The next section shows how to add your own words.

Movies. The Movies list has 29 film titles: 10 Easy (Frozen, Shrek, Toy Story, The Lion King), 10 Medium (Jurassic Park, Mary Poppins, Ratatouille, Kung Fu Panda) and 9 Hard (Inception, The Matrix, Groundhog Day, Gladiator). The card tells the actor to hold up fingers for the number of words and then act each word. Agree the other signals up front, for example a tug on the ear for "sounds like" and a pinch of two fingers for a small word such as "the" or "of". The list holds film titles only, with no TV shows, songs or books.

Famous people. For celebrity charades, tap Famous people. The list has 36 real names, 12 on each level: Easy (Albert Einstein, Elvis Presley, Serena Williams), Medium (Leonardo da Vinci, Elton John, Simone Biles) and Hard (Harry Houdini, Marie Curie, Dolly Parton). The names are actors, musicians, athletes, scientists and artists, living and historical, and none of them is a politician. We chose names that give an actor something to show: a signature move, a costume or a job. The card tip says to show that and not to say any part of the name. The list is short, so treat it as a starting point rather than a celebrity database.

Your own names. To add a name to the current wheel, type it into the add box and press the plus button. To use only your own names, replace the whole list:

1. 1Open the Entries tab and press Bulk edit.
2. 2Delete the words in the box, then type or paste one name per line.
3. 3Press Apply list, then spin.

A name you add shows on the card without a category, level or tip. Do not tap a list or a level afterwards, because that rebuilds the wheel from the built-in lists and removes your names. A reload also brings back the Starter list. To keep a custom list, press Save and share in the side panel: it makes a link to a wheel with your current words. That link opens a standard wheel, without the Level control or the turn timer.

Pick people the whole room knows and who give the actor something to show, such as a signature move, a costume or a job.

A charades generator wheel shows its words on the slices, so the room can read the list while it spins. Two switches under Hide the word in the Entries tab fix that:

• Mystery wheel puts a question mark on every slice.
• Mystery result keeps the card on a question mark until the actor presses Reveal answer.

With both on, one person can spin in front of the group, turn the phone toward themself, press Reveal answer and act.

If Start on result is on, the clock starts when the wheel stops, not when Reveal answer is pressed. With Mystery result, leave Start on result off and press Start once the actor has seen the word.

• It has no TV show, song or book lists. The Movies list holds film titles only, and Famous people is a short list of 36 names, not a celebrity database.
• It has no kids or adult switch and no age filter. Level measures difficulty, not age.
• It does not keep score or make teams. Use the Random Team Generator for teams and a paper tally for points.
• It does not give a word you typed a category, level or tip.
• The Starter list has no Hard words (9 Easy and 5 Medium), so pick All words or a category before choosing Hard.
• A wheel holds up to 1,000 words, and the panel counts them as "14 of 1,000".

• To choose who acts next, use the Random Name Picker.
• For a truth or dare round after the charades, use the Truth or Dare Wheel.
• For a game where people draw instead of act, use the What to Draw Wheel.
• For a wheel of animals only, use the Random Animal Generator.