Hard charades words for adults who want a challenge

Hard charades words should push the actor to be creative without making the guess impossible. Here are 20 tough prompts plus guidance on when to use them.

20 hard charades words for adults

Idioms, abstract nouns and grown-up scenarios only - keep a timer on.

  1. Existential crisis
  2. Silent disco
  3. Trade war
  4. Paradox
  5. Market crash
  6. Double standard
  7. Imposter syndrome
  8. Networking event
  9. Software update
  10. Breaking the ice
  11. Cost of living
  12. Mid-life crisis
  13. Carbon footprint
  14. Keeping a poker face
  15. Work from home
  16. Burning out
  17. Conference call
  18. Venture capital
  19. Data breach
  20. Side hustle

These ideas are starters. Download Showem free for more words, teams and timers, and same-phone play on one device - from the App Store or Google Play.

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Choose categories and round rules, run teams and timers, and keep scores on one phone - built for in-room charades on iOS and Android.

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Screens from the latest app - from setup to the word on the card.

1
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2
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How to make hard prompts playable

Hard prompts ruin the game if the room cannot possibly land on them. Good hard is a concept the table has talked about recently - work stress, politics, travel - even if miming it is creative.

Raise difficulty without breaking fun

Extend the timer slightly (90 seconds instead of 60) when prompts get abstract. Let actors break the prompt into smaller pieces: one gesture for the concept, one for the modifier.

Hard mode on Showem

Showem has a hard-mode preset for adults that keeps surfacing abstract prompts, including the workplace and pop-culture scenarios that play best with grown-up groups.

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