Random Charades / Pictionary Word
Themed cards with difficulty + timer.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Last checked
The Random Charades / Pictionary Word tool deals out a word or phrase to act out or draw, with category themes, difficulty levels, and a built-in timer. It's a ready-to-go party game for family nights, classrooms, and office breaks — no cards to print or buy. Pick a theme and start drawing cards right away.
Choose. Pick a category and difficulty in the Options.
Click Draw a card to see a result.
Options
Recent results
- No history yet.
How it works
- Choose. Pick a category and difficulty in the Options.
- Draw. Click Draw a card to get a word to act out or draw.
- Time. Start the built-in timer and have your team guess.
- Next. Draw another card for the next player or round.
About the Random Charades / Pictionary Word
Categories that change the game, not just the words
Six categories are available — films, actions, animals, songs, occupations and a kids set — and they demand quite different things from a performer. Actions and animals are pure mime and work for any age. Films and songs are titles, which means the room has to know the title, and a group with a wide age range will find some of them impossible.
The kids category is the one to reach for with mixed ages: everything in it is a physical action a young child can both perform and recognise. It is not simply the same list with easier words.
How the timer behaves
Set Timer seconds and a countdown starts with each new word — sixty by default. The last five seconds tick audibly and the end is marked with a chime, provided sound is switched on; sound is off by default across the site, so turn it on deliberately before you start.
Drawing a new word cancels the running timer and starts a fresh one, so a player who gives up early is not penalised by the previous round. Setting the timer to zero disables it entirely, which suits a relaxed game where the fun is in the performance rather than the pressure.
Repeats and how to avoid them
Each draw is independent and the tool keeps no record of what it has already shown, so in a long session the same word will come round again. There is no no-repeat option here.
The practical workaround is to change category every few rounds rather than staying in one. Each category holds around thirty entries, so a group playing hard through a single category will start seeing repeats after ten or fifteen draws — a category change resets that feeling entirely.
Running a good round
- Let the performer see the word privately. Holding the phone up to the room is a mistake made once.
- Agree the rules first: no talking is standard, no pointing at objects is the one people argue about.
- Only the last ten words are stored, so keep score on paper.
- A word nobody can guess is not a failed round — it is the round people remember.
Frequently asked questions
Can my kids play?
Yes. Choose the Kids category for age-friendly words that are easy to act out or draw.
How do I run a tournament?
Use the built-in timer for each round and keep score on paper as you go. The History panel logs every card you drew so you can avoid repeats.
Are the words drawn at random?
Yes. Cards are pulled with the Web Crypto API, so each draw from your chosen category is unbiased.
Does the game need an internet connection?
No. It runs entirely in your browser and works offline — nothing about your game is sent to a server.
Related randomizers
Further reading
- A random letter for Scattergories that nobody can argue with
Picking a letter from your head is never really random — and someone always calls it. Here's how a random letter picker, with an easy mode that skips the impossible letters, keeps word games fair and moving.
- Party games with zero setup: a host's cheat sheet
The best party games need nothing but your phone and a few willing people. Here's how to read the room, pick the right game for the moment, and keep the energy up without printouts, props, or a rules lawyer.