Fishbowl

Name of Group Game: Fishbowl
Type:
Indoor

Number:
Medium Group (10 – 19 people)

Age: Middle School – Adult

Time: 25 – 40 minutes

Summary: Fun-filled word and memory game- Charades, Taboo and Password combined! Little preparation required.

Goal: The team with the most points wins the game.

Preparation:
– Pens
– Paper (3 pieces of paper for each person playing)
– A container to hold the pieces of paper
– Timer

How to Play Fishbowl:
1. Separate everyone into two equal teams (Team A and Team B). Have each person take three pieces of paper and write any word or familiar short phrase on each piece of paper. Have each person fold their pieces of paper in half and put them into the container. There are three rounds in Fishbowl: 1) Taboo 2) Password 3) Charades.

2. Round 1: Taboo
Team A needs to select someone to go first, while Team B needs a volunteer to watch the timer (set at one minute). The person from Team A will grab a piece of paper from the container and try to have his/her teammates guess the word on the paper using only use words and sentences as hints, without using any motions, “sounds like…”, or spelling hints. (For example, if the word is “ribs”, the person can say “baby back ___”). The person tries to have their team guess as many words as they can within one minute. The teams will need to remember the guessed words/phrases for subsequent rounds.

If the team is unable to guess the word/phrase, the person has the option to “pass”, puts the word/phrase back into the container and continues with a new word/phrase. The person can only pass once during his/her one minute.

After one minute, Team A counts the number of successfully guessed words/phrases. Each guessed word/phrase counts as one point. Team B is next, and selects a volunteer from their team to start. A person from Team A will watch the timer, to be set at one minute. This alternating process continues until all of the words from the container run out. When the words run out, place all the words/phrases back into the container for the second round.

3. Round 2: Password
With the same style as the first round, the next team will select someone to go first, with the other team sets the timer for one minute. However, in this round, the person can use only one word as a hint for their team to guess. (For example, if the word is “ribs”, the person can say the word “bone”). The team needs to recall the words/phrases in the previous round. Once all the words in the container runs out, place all the words back into the container for the third round.

4. Round 3: Charades
In this final round, the person needs to act and use motions as hints for their team to guess the word/phrase. (For example, if the word is “ribs”, the person can point to their rib cage). When all the words run out, tally all the points. The team with the most points wins the game.

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