35 guessing games for adults at work and parties
Words, pictures, people, music and numbers, each with how to play in a room and on Zoom. Plus 10 estimation questions and 8 board games worth buying.
Guessing games are the easiest party games to start: one person knows something, everyone else races to work it out. Below are 35 guessing games for adults, from guess the word party games like charades and fishbowl to picture rounds, team guessing games about your colleagues, music clips and closest-number questions. Each lists players, time and supplies, and every one works on a video call with the tips at the end.
Quick picks by situation
Nothing to prepare
Best for a party
Best team guessing games
Guess the word party games
The classics of every game night. Most need nothing but slips of paper and a timer.
1. Charades
A player acts out a movie, book or song title in silence while their team guesses. 60 seconds per turn, a point per title.
6 to 30 players · 20 min · Title slips and a timer
2. Forbidden words
Describe the word on a card without saying the three banned words under it. 'Pizza' without cheese, slice or Italian. Someone from the other team watches for slips.
6 to 30 players · 20 min · Cards you write
3. One-word clues
The clue giver may only say single words, one at a time, until their partner guesses the secret word. Fewer clues earn more points.
4 to 20 players, in pairs · 15 min · A word list
4. Forehead cards
The guesser holds a card to their forehead without looking. Teammates shout clues and act it out; get as many as you can in 60 seconds.
4 to 30 players · 15 min · Index cards
5. Twenty questions
One person thinks of a person, place or thing. Everyone else gets 20 yes-or-no questions between them to guess it.
3 to 20 players · 10 min · Nothing
6. Fishbowl
Everyone writes three names or words for a bowl. Teams play three rounds with the same slips: describe freely, then one word only, then mime.
8 to 30 players · 30 to 45 min · Paper slips and a bowl
7. Contact
The leader picks a secret word and reveals its first letter. Others clue each other with words that start the same way; if two players match on a word before the leader blocks it, the leader reveals another letter.
4 to 12 players · 15 min · Nothing
8. Category hangman
Hangman with a named category, like office supplies or capital cities, played by teams at a whiteboard. Teams alternate letters; a wrong letter passes the turn.
Two teams of any size · 15 min · A whiteboard
9. The odd one out
Everyone secretly gets the same word except one player, who gets a blank. Each person gives a one-word clue, then the group votes on who doesn't know the word.
5 to 12 players · 15 min · Slips of paper
10. Secret word
Before a meeting or party, each player gets a strange word to slip into conversation, like 'pineapple' or 'flamingo'. At the end, everyone guesses each other's word.
4 to 20 players · One meeting · Private messages
Picture guessing games
Drawing, photos and emojis. Bad artists welcome; they make it funnier.
11. Draw and guess
One player draws a word on a whiteboard or flip chart, no letters or numbers, while their team guesses. 60 seconds a drawing.
6 to 30 players · 20 min · A whiteboard or paper
12. Drawing telephone
Write a phrase, pass it, the next person draws it, the next guesses what the drawing shows, and so on. Read each chain from start to finish.
6 to 15 players · 15 min · Paper and pens
13. Zoomed-in photos
Take extreme close-ups of things around the office, like a stapler, a keyboard key or the coffee machine. Show them one at a time; teams write down what they think each is.
4 to 50 players · 10 min · 10 close-up photos
14. Baby photo match
Collect a childhood photo from everyone who wants to play. Number them on a slide or a wall, and players match numbers to names.
6 to 40 players · 15 min · Photos sent ahead
15. Emoji titles
Show a movie title in emojis and teams race to name it. Start with these: 🚢🧊 (Titanic), 🦁👑 (The Lion King), ❄️👸 (Frozen), 🕷️🧑 (Spider-Man).
4 to 100 players · 10 min · A slide or the chat
16. Back-to-back drawing
Pairs sit back to back. One describes a simple picture without naming it; the other draws from the description and guesses what it is.
Pairs · 10 min · Simple pictures, paper and pens
17. Logo from memory
Each player draws a famous logo from memory without looking it up. The rest guess the brand; the most accurate drawing wins a point.
4 to 20 players · 10 min · Paper and pens
Guess who: games about the people in the room
The best team guessing games, because every answer teaches you something about a colleague.
18. Who wrote it
Collect one surprising fact from each person in an anonymous form. Read them out one by one and let the group guess who it belongs to.
6 to 40 players · 15 min · A short form
19. Whose desk
Gather photos of everyone's desk, view or bookshelf. Show them one at a time and guess the owner.
5 to 40 players · 15 min · Photos sent ahead
20. Pet line-up
Show photos of the team's pets and a row of owner names. Players match pets to people; the owners confirm with a story.
5 to 40 players · 10 min · Pet photos
21. Mystery colleague
The host reads five clues about one colleague, hardest first. Guess after clue one for five points, after clue five for one point.
6 to 60 players · 15 min · Clues you gather ahead
22. Two truths and a lie
Each person shares three statements about themselves, one of them false. The group guesses the lie. Rules and 100 example statements.
4 to 15 players · 15 min · Nothing
23. Dream job match
Everyone sends in the job they wanted at age ten. Show the list and match each dream job to a colleague.
6 to 40 players · 10 min · Answers sent ahead
24. Bucket list guess
Each person submits one bucket list item. Read them out and vote on whose each is, then the owner says how close they are to doing it.
6 to 40 players · 15 min · Answers sent ahead
Music guessing games
Clips, humming and theme tunes. Works with a phone speaker in a room or shared sound on a call.
25. Name that tune
Play the first five seconds of a song. The first team to name the title and artist scores; add five more seconds if nobody gets it.
6 to 100 players · 20 min · A playlist and a speaker
26. Hum it
A player draws a song title and hums it, no words. Their team has 30 seconds to name it.
6 to 30 players · 15 min · A list of songs
27. Guess the decade
Play a short clip and teams write down the decade it came out. Two points for the exact year, one for the decade.
6 to 100 players · 15 min · A playlist with release years
28. Theme tune quiz
Play the opening seconds of TV theme tunes. Teams name the show. Mix decades so every age group gets some.
6 to 100 players · 15 min · A playlist of theme tunes
29. Emoji song titles
Write song titles in emojis, one per slide. Teams race to name the song and the artist.
4 to 100 players · 10 min · A slide or the chat
Number and estimation games
Nobody knows the answer exactly, so everyone has a shot. Closest guess wins.
30. Jar guess
Fill a jar with candy, paper clips or coffee pods and count them first. Everyone writes a guess; closest wins the jar.
Any group size · 5 min · A jar and something to fill it
31. Closest guess
Ask questions with a number for an answer. Every team writes a guess and the closest team scores. Use the ten questions below.
Teams of 3 to 6 · 15 min · The questions below
32. Price it right
Show everyday items, like a stapler, a bag of coffee or a desk plant, and teams guess the price. Closest without going over wins. Check real prices the day before.
Teams of 3 to 6 · 15 min · Items and their prices
33. Guess the year
Read an event and teams write the year. Try the first iPhone release (2007), the sinking of the Titanic (1912) and the Wright brothers' first powered flight (1903).
Teams of 3 to 6 · 15 min · A list of events and years
34. Sixty-second guess
Everyone closes their eyes and stands when they think exactly one minute has passed, no counting out loud. Closest to 60 seconds wins.
Any group size · 5 min · A stopwatch
35. Team stats
Collect numbers from the team ahead of time: total years at the company, countries visited, coffees a day. Teams guess the group totals.
6 to 60 players · 10 min · A quick survey
10 closest-guess questions with answers
- How many keys are on a standard piano? 88
- How many bones are in the adult human body? 206
- How many minutes are in a week? 10,080
- In what year did people first walk on the Moon? 1969
- How many lines are in a sonnet? 14
- In what year did the Berlin Wall fall? 1989
- How many miles long is a marathon? 26.2
- How many dots are on a standard six-sided die? 21
- How many squares are on a chessboard? 64
- How many hearts does an octopus have? 3
How to play guessing games on Zoom
Every game above works on a video call. Six changes keep it fair and fast:
- Send secret words by private chat. The clue giver or drawer gets the word in a direct message, so nobody sees it on screen.
- Use a chat waterfall for answers. Everyone types a guess and hits enter on your count, so the fastest typist doesn't win every round.
- Spotlight the player. For charades and forehead cards, spotlight or pin the person acting so everyone sees them full screen.
- Share sound for music rounds. When you share your screen, turn on the option to share computer sound, or the clips arrive muffled.
- Play in breakout teams. Teams of four to six confer in breakout rooms and one captain submits the answer. More talking, less waiting.
- Keep the score on screen. A simple shared slide or spreadsheet with team names keeps everyone invested between rounds.
8 guessing board games for adults
Want something in a box for the office shelf? These are well-known guessing board games that suit a group of coworkers.
- Codenames: Two teams, one clue giver each. One-word clues point teammates to their team's words in a grid.
- Just One: Cooperative: everyone writes a one-word clue for the guesser, and matching clues cancel out.
- Wavelength: One player gives a clue for a hidden spot on a scale between two ideas; the team guesses where it is.
- Wits & Wagers: Trivia where every answer is a number, and you bet on whose guess is closest without going over.
- Telestrations: Drawing telephone in sketchbooks: draw, guess, draw, guess, then reveal.
- Dixit: A storyteller gives a clue for a picture card, and everyone else tries to find it among the decoys.
- Decrypto: Teams give clues to a secret code while the other team tries to crack it.
- Taboo: Describe the word on your card without saying the words listed under it.
Game names are trademarks of their owners. KraftyLab isn’t affiliated with any of them; the games earlier on this page are our own write-ups of classic party games.
Want someone to run the game for you?
Our hosts run live virtual trivia and virtual game shows packed with guessing rounds, on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request). Teams play in breakout rooms and the host keeps score.
Hosted guessing games, with today’s prices. Book about 2 weeks ahead.
More free games: our group games for adults, true or false questions and a guide to hosting a trivia night. Planning an event? Get a free quote.
