Dumb Crambo

Dumb Crambo is a fun parlor game for family reunions or parties, where players try to guess a word through mime. It is non-competitive and is similar to Charades. Players divide into two teams of roughly equal ability (it doesn't matter if they have unequal numbers).

Age: All ages

No. of players: Large groups (6 or more players)

Equipment: None

Time: 10 minutes+

Aim: To guess a word through mime.

1. One team leaves the room while the other team chooses a word, usually a verb or another word which must be able to be acted out without speaking. The chosen word should have a number of other words which sound the same and can also be mimed.

2. The first team returns. They are not told the chosen word but a word which sounds like the chosen word. For example, the chosen word could be "drive"; they are told it sounds like "hive". This is the only word which should be spoken between the teams during the game, leading to the name DUMB Crambo. However, there is usually still a lot of noise during the game (see Step 3)!

3. The first team then leaves the room again and chooses three words they can mime which sound like "hive". For example, they could choose the words "dive", "five" and "drive". They return to the room and act out each word, one at a time. If the word is wrong ("dive" and "five"), the other team hisses and shakes their heads. If the word is correct ("drive"), the other team cheers and applauds.

4. Teams then reverse their roles. The game can continue for as many rounds as you want.

Some sample words to get you started are;

Drive/five/dive (sounds like "hive")

Cry/fly/buy/sigh/die (sounds like "try")

Walk/baulk/caulk/fork/stalk (sounds like "chalk")

Meal/deal/seal/reel/heel/steal (sounds like "teal")

Hide/cried/died/ride (sounds like "abide")

Won/run/fun/sun/gun (sounds like "bun")

Hit/sit/bit/quit/fit (sounds like "kit")