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150+ Hard Charades Ideas to Try Now!

Looking for hard charades ideas to give yourself and your group a challenge? We’ve hand-picked over 150 hard charades words just for you! These picks will have your team stumped and you acting your little heart out.

We’ve separated our hard charades ideas into the charades categories of: movies, tv shows, books, plays, songs, quotes and phrases, actions, plus a bonus randomized list! At the end, we’ve even thrown in one or two ways to make your game extra tricky with homegrown charades variations. Without further ado, *drumroll*, I give you the Hardest Charades Ideas List!

Silhouette of a head with a light bulb surrounded by light bulbs implying hard charades ideas

30 Hard Movie Charade Ideas

Without playing themed charades, any movie title could be challenging to guess.

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Howl’s Moving CastleOcean’s Eight 
Inside OutLassie Come Home
CasablancaThe Wolf of Wall Street
American BeautyPulp Fiction
Spirited AwayAmerican History X
Indiana Jones **The Help
The Truman ShowFinding Nemo
Star Trek **The Big Lebowski
Twilight **Harry Potter **
Avengers: EndgameThe Wizard of Oz
Pan’s LabyrinthLife of Brian
Shutter IslandSchindler’s List
InceptionZoolander
AnchormanMemento
The Green MileThe Shawshank Redemption

** Must guess the full movie title as well. Ex: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

For more charades movie ideas, see our mega list of 210+ Movie Ideas for Charades including Disney and family titles!

As another clue category, you could have your team guess characters from movies, rather than movie titles. Just imagine how difficult it would be to act out the differences between the two twins in Austin Powers, or individual Ewoks. May the force be with your team, and also with you.

30 Hard TV Show Charade Ideas

I think it would be more difficult to guess TV shows rather than movies, what do you think?

To keep the game more challenging remember to act out the words or syllables of the TV show title instead of doing impressions of the characters in it!

TaskmasterPlanet Earth
Fullmetal AlchemistThe Twilight Zone
FargoHouse
FriendsIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
ArcherThe Boys
Blackadder24
MerlinDexter
Parks and RecreationThe Office
SuperstoreBrooklyn Nine-Nine
Black MirrorBetter Call Saul
The Good WifeHandmaid’s Tale
BridgertonMindhunters
Blue PlanetBand of Brothers
FuturamaThe X-Files
Altered CarbonMythbusters
The MandalorianAlias

20 Hard Book Titles for Charades

I ponder how well a book club would manage this charade’s list. I reckon they would ace it. 

For the added effect, I’ve thrown in old classics amongst some new bestsellers. Acting out these titles by yourself will have a room full of laughs.

The HobbitThe Da Vinci Code
Gone GirlThe Great Gatsby
Thirteen Reasons WhyThe Odyssey
In the WoodsDune
Fahrenheit 451I Am Legend
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the GalaxyGone with the Wind
The Catcher in the RyeThe Time Traveler’s Wife
The ShackThe Scarlet Letter
The AlchemistThink and Grow Rich
One Hundred Years of SolitudeJames and the Giant Peach

30 Difficult Action Charade Words

Action verbs are my crux in charades. I could guess movies and TV shows all day, but the actions always get me. Here are some of the awkwardest verbs I could think of.

DeflectComplete
ImitateCopy
SaveChant
SnorkelInspect
TackleRescue
AllowSkid
Write calligraphyFilm
Game PlanDismantle
ShrinkEnlarge
SinkGrill
Ride a tricycleDive at a shipwreck
Get eaten by an alligatorTransform
ShapeshiftCollaborate
Be an audience memberRespect
Thank youHave a nightmare

10 Hard Plays and Musicals for Charades

Are your group regular theatre go-ers? If so, then they’ll love these!

A Chorus LineWaiting for Godot
RentThe Odd Couple
42nd StreetA Streetcar Named Desire
The ProducersOur Town
The Importance of Being EarnestThe Humans

20 Hard Songs for Charades

Some of these songs for charades might get stuck in your head, even if you haven’t heard the song!

YesterdayRespect
Louie LouieMinnie the Moocher
HolidayWhat’s Going On
Come As You AreBohemian Rapsody
True ColorsWannabe
More Than WordsYou Can Call Me Al
By The WayThe Real Slim Shady
Tainted LoveMmm Bop
MilkshakeEverlong
Somebody Told MeTake On Me

20 Hard Quotes and Phrases for Charades

Movies and books are fantastic sources of pithy one-liners and famous phrases for charades!

“These go to eleven.” This Is Spinal Tap“Soylent Green is people!” Soylent Green
“Do or do not. There is no try.” Yoda“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley”. Airplane
“You’re a Wizard, Harry.” Hagrid“With great power comes great responsibility.” Spiderman
“Why so serious?” The Joker“I’m having an old friend for dinner.” Hannibal Lecter
“I’ll be back.” T-800“Houston, we have a problem.” Apollo 13
“I am your father.” Darth Vader“You can’t handle the truth!” A Few Good Men
“You shall not pass.” Gandalf“Not all those who wander are lost” J.R.R Tolkien
“Today is a good day to try.” Quasimodo“Always let your conscience be your guide.” Pinocchio
“To me, you are perfect.” Love Actually“I’ll have whatever she’s having.” When Harry Met Sally
“Go ahead, make my day.” Sudden Impact“Elementary, my dear Watson.” Sherlock Holmes

40 Randomized Hard Charade Ideas

These could be people, places, things, actions, any of the above. 

Jay-ZBlue
GoldDrapes
Cotton ballShoelace
Brick wallDeja Vu
Lucid dream Stuck on Mars
A Hershey’s kissA rake
A knotA silhouette
Singing acapellaConducting an orchestra
Underwater basket weavingThe dark
A cloudChalk
A yoga matA life coach
LavaDeck of cards
Contact lensesWill Smith
Jennifer LawrenceMiley Cyrus
Ellen Degeneres Your shadow
A pack of wolvesA motorhome
InfluencerFeeling overwhelmed
“I’m all ears”“Cool as a cucumber”
“Sat on the fence”Standing ovation
A spineA boulder

Phew, those look tough! How do you even pretend to be a cotton ball, hey?

Charade Variations to Switch Things Up!

The original acting-out game is a party starter, but it’s always fun to try something new. Here are two of our favorite variants that’ll keep your game interesting.

Telephone Charades

Best for: Large groups

Throw out any chances of success in this mix-up and prepare to be both heavily confused and humored by telephone charades. 

Assemble your group in a shoulder-to-shoulder line, with the first person facing a different direction than the others. Have the first player choose a phrase from the hat. This player then taps the next person in line and acts out the clue. The second player then taps the next player in line, acting out their version of the clue until it reaches the last player who must guess what the original clue was. 

The more, the merrier.

After You Charades

Best for: Groups with common interests

The “after you” charades variant is one that my family used to play together to make things more logically challenging. 

The player begins by deciding a word/phrase to act out to the audience, like usual. However, whoever guesses the correct phrase will need to piggyback off the original phrase somehow. Let me give you an example…

I act out the word “magician,” a player guesses it and then needs to come up with a similar themed or connected word. Maybe they choose to act out “rabbit,” or “wand.” If there is a tie to the words in any sort of regard, it’s fair game. 

Now, players can have disagreements about if the words are connected or not after a correct guess, which just leads to more discussion and laughter as everything is mapped out.

Conclusion – Hard Charades Ideas

So, what do you think? Will you try out these hard charades ideas and charades game variations to bring some fresh dynamics to your game?

Before you get started, check out our list of Kid-Friendly Charades Ideas, or Adult-Only Charades Ideas. You’ll be able to toss a few from each round-up in the bucket for later. Or for some silly clues to mix in with the harder ones, see our list of Funny Charades Ideas for Big Laughs!

Happy gaming friends, the stage is yours!

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Emily
Hi, I’m Emily, the tabletop gamer behind My Kind of Meeple. If this article helped you, I’d be honoured if you’d say, “Thanks!” with a £3 coffee on Ko-fi.

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