Fishbowl

about this tool

How to play

Fishbowl — also called the hat game or the salad bowl game — is a party game for four to twenty people in two teams, played on one phone.

1. Fill the bowl. The phone goes round and each player secretly writes a few names: people, story characters, films, places, things — anything most of the table would know. Nobody sees them until they come out of the bowl. In a hurry? Use the starter pile instead.
2. Take turns. One player from the team whose turn it is takes the phone, starts the clock and gets their own team to guess the name on screen. Got it? Tap and the next name comes up. Stuck? Pass puts it back at the bottom of the bowl. A got tapped by mistake can be taken back. The clock turns dark for the last five seconds — and beeps them, if you switch that on — and when time runs out the phone goes to the other team.
3. Three rounds, one bowl. When the bowl is empty the round ends and the same names go back in for the next.

The three rounds

• Describe it — any words you like, but not the name itself, and no "sounds like".
• One word — exactly one word per name.
• Act it out — mime only: no words, no sounds.

The joke is that by the third round everyone has heard every name twice, so "Cinderella" can be got from a single word, then from someone pretending to lose a shoe.

Scoring and turns

Every name a team gets is a point, and the scores are kept for each round. The team that empties the bowl keeps the seconds it had left and carries straight on into the next round; with none left, the other team is up. After the third round, the team with the most points wins. The clue-giver changes every turn, going round each team's players in the order the names were typed — and the teams are every other name, so type them in the order you sit.

The starter pile

Sixty ready-made slips, written for this page: story and folk-tale characters from Robin Hood to Tenali Raman, places such as the Taj Mahal and Mount Everest, and everyday things from a traffic jam to a pillow fight. The page draws four for each player, up to all sixty.

Private and fair

What people write stays in this page, never shown until it comes out of the bowl. The bowl is shuffled with the browser's cryptographic randomness, the same fair draw as the random picker, and shuffled again after every turn so the name that beat one team is not the first the next one sees. The screen is kept awake while the clock runs.

For a quicker game of acting out, try Forehead Charades; to split a group into teams first, the team generator.

questions

How do you play Fishbowl?

Everyone secretly writes a few names into the bowl — people, characters, films, places, anything the table would know. Two teams then take turns: one player holds the phone and gets their own team to guess as many names as they can before the clock runs out. The same bowl is played three times: first describing each name, then with one word only, then by mime alone.

What are the three rounds?

Round one, describe it: any words except the name itself. Round two, one word: exactly one word per name. Round three, act it out: no words, no sounds. Because everyone heard every name in round one, the one-word and mime rounds are possible — and that is the fun.

What happens when the bowl runs out?

The round is over and the bowl is filled again for the next one. The team that emptied it keeps the time it had left and carries straight on into the next round; with no time left, the other team goes next. After the third round, the team with the most names got wins.

Can we skip a hard one?

Yes: pass puts the name back at the bottom of the bowl and brings up the next — except the very last name, which has to be got. A got tapped by mistake can be taken back with undo last got — even the one that emptied the bowl, until the next turn starts. When time runs out, the name in hand goes back too, and the bowl is shuffled before the other team’s turn.

Do we have to write the names?

No. Choose use the starter pile and the bowl is filled from sixty ready-made slips — story characters such as Cinderella and Birbal, places such as the Taj Mahal, and everyday things such as a traffic jam — four for each player, up to all sixty.

How many players?

Four to twenty, in two teams split alternately round the table, so sit with the teams alternating and type the names in seat order. The clue-giver changes every turn, going round each team in turn.

Is anything saved or sent?

No. The names stay in this page, the bowl is shuffled with your browser’s cryptographic randomness, and nothing is stored or sent. The screen is kept awake while the clock runs, the clock turns dark for the last five seconds, and it can beep them too. Reloading or leaving ends the game.