Bowl of Nouns

The Junk You Need:

• Pen or Pencil(s)
• Scrap Paper
• A Bowl, Hat, Bag, or other container
• Timer (smartphone)
• Word Generator (if you’re not feelin’ creative)

How to Play

Setup:

1. Give each player a pen and 3 small pieces of scrap paper.
   
   Try to tear or cut the scrap paper so they’re about the same size, a couple inches or so. It’s okay if they’re not perfect.
   
   
2. Everyone writes down a different noun or name on each of their 3 pieces of paper. (For example, “Dolly Parton,” “Baseball Bat,” and “Skibidi Toilet.”)
   
   NOTE: You can agree on a category of words if you want, but it’s also really fun to use inside jokes and current events. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, you can find a word generator on the Tools Page.
   
   
3. Put all the words into a bowl (or hat or bag or whatever), and mix them up.
   
4. Divide into 2 teams, and pick a team to go first.

First Round (Descriptions):

In the first round, one player on each team tries to get their team to guess as many words as possible within one minute by describing those words.

1. Pick someone on the first team to be the clue giver. That person takes the bowl.
   
2. Someone on the other team counts down from 3, and starts a timer for 60 seconds.
   
3. The moment the timer starts, the clue giver secretly draws a random word from the bowl, and describes it to try to get their team to guess it. Never let your team see the word.
   
   When describing the word, you can’t use the word on the paper, or any part or variation of that word.
   
   For example, for “Baseball Bat,” you can’t say “This is the wood thing you use to hit a ball” because the word “Ball” is in “Baseball Bat”, but you can say “You swing this before you hit a home run.”
   
   
4. The clue giver’s team shouts out answers to guess the word. As soon as any person on the team guesses correctly, set that word aside and draw a new one from the bowl.
   
   You can skip words if you get stuck or don’t know what the word is, but your team loses a point for every word you skip. Avoid skipping if you can!
   
   
5. Try to get your team to correctly guess as many words as possible before the timer runs out.
   
6. After the timer ends for the first team, tally their points — add one point for each correctly-guessed word, and subtract a point for each skipped word.
   
   After tallying points, put all skipped words back into the bowl. If the clue giver is still holding a word that hasn’t been guessed, put it back into the bowl as well.
   
   
7. Reset the timer — it’s now the other team’s turn to do the same thing.
   
8. If there are still words in the bowl after the second team has taken their turn, the first team goes again. Continue taking turns until all the words have been guessed.
   
   If you run out of words while the timer is still going, that’s okay. Just stop the timer and tally all the points for each team, then move on to the next round!
   

Second Round (Silent Acting):

In the second round, one player on each team tries to get their team to guess as many words as possible within one minute by silently acting out the words. Otherwise, the same rules apply.

1. Put all the used words back into the bowl.
   
   You’ll use a lot of the same words throughout the game—that’s the point! Everyone now has an idea of what words are in the mix as the clues become harder.
   
   
2. The team that went second in the previous round goes first this round. Pick a new player on that team to be the clue giver.
   
   Don’t think too hard about “first team” and “second team” — just think of it as switching which team goes first for each new round.
   
   
3. The moment the timer starts, the clue giver secretly draws a random word and silently acts it out (as if you’re playing Charades).
   
4. After the timer ends, tally the points. It’s now the other team’s turn to do the same thing.
   
5. If there are still words in the bowl after both teams have taken a 60-second turn, the team that started the round goes again. Continue taking turns until all the words have been guessed.

Final Round (One Word Each):

In the third round, each team’s clue giver can only give a single word as a clue for each word they draw.

1. The team that went second in the previous round goes first for this round. Pick a new player to be the clue giver.
   
2. When the timer starts, the clue giver secretly draws a random word and gives one single word as a clue to describe the word they drew.
   
   IMPORTANT: For each word you draw, you can only say one word, but you can repeat that word and say it with different vocal tones. If your team cannot guess the word with the one-word clue you give, you must skip that word and take the negative point. You cannot give additional clues for a word you’ve already said a one-word clue for.
   
   Also, don’t forget that you cannot use the word on the card, or any part or variation of that word.
   
   
3. After the timer ends for the first team, tally their points. It’s now the second team’s turn to do the same thing.
   
4. Each team only gets one 60-second turn for this round, so after each team has taken their turn, tally up each team’s points for the game.

Winning:

The team with the most points after all three rounds wins. If you tie, all players have to high five every single person in the room. (Or don’t, I’m not your boss. I just didn’t feel like writing a tiebreaker round.)