Taboo online: a free forbidden words game for teams

How to play a Taboo-style game in 6 steps

You need four or more people and one phone. Three roles matter: the describer, the guessers and the buzzer from the other team.

1. 1Split into two teams. Two to six people a side. Sit so the teams alternate around the table, which makes the next step easy.
2. 2Pick a describer and a buzzer. Team 1 sends one describer. Team 2 sends one buzzer, who stands behind the describer and watches the card. Everyone else on Team 1 guesses.
3. 3Start the 60-second round. The describer gets their team to say the word on the card without saying it, any part of it, or any of the five words under it.
4. 4Score with Got it, move on with Skip. When a guesser says the exact word, tap Got it for a point and a new card. Stuck? Skip costs nothing, but the time is gone.
5. 5Buzz the fouls. If the describer says a forbidden word, the buzzer calls it out. That card is dead: tap Skip and keep going.
6. 6Swap and rotate. Team 2 describes next, with a new describer every round so everyone gets a turn. Play an agreed number of rounds. Highest score wins.

Fouls: what the describer can’t do

• Say the word on the card, or any part of it. For Hot dog, both hot and dog are out.
• Say any of the five forbidden words, in any form. Plurals and -ing versions count.
• Use sounds like or rhymes with clues.
• Spell the word or give its first letter.
• Gesture, point or act. Taboo is words only.
• Translate the word into another language.

How to play Taboo online on Zoom, Teams or Google Meet

The trick to online Taboo is keeping the card off the shared screen. Everything else works the way it does in a room.

1. 1The describer opens this page on their phone. Not on a shared screen: the guessers would see the card. The phone runs the timer and keeps the score for both teams.
2. 2Everyone else stays in gallery view. The describer's team unmutes to guess out loud. The other team mutes, so a stray shout can't give the word away.
3. 3Play on trust, or name a remote buzzer. Most teams let the describer call their own fouls. For a strict game, the describer taps Copy on each card and sends it to the other team's buzzer in a private chat message.
4. 4Keep hands out of the frame. Gestures are fouls, and on camera they are hard to miss. Sitting on your hands is allowed and very funny.
5. 5Guess in the chat for big groups. With more than ten guessers, everyone types guesses in the chat and the first exact answer scores.
6. 6Use breakout rooms past 16 people. Rooms of six to eight, two teams per room, each with its own describer and this page. Compare the totals when everyone comes back.

Only have ten minutes? Two rounds per team fits the end of a meeting. Our team meeting games list has more that fit the same slot.

How to make homemade Taboo cards

Paper cards are better for a party or an office game night where phones stay in pockets.

1. 1Print the cards below. Every card on this page is printed further down, one block per card. Print the section, or copy a category into a doc and set it in two columns.
2. 2Cut them out or copy them onto index cards. Word on top, the five forbidden words underneath. A 3 by 5 inch index card fits one card with room to spare.
3. 3Write your own in the same way. Pick a word, then list the first five words most people would use to describe it. Those are the forbidden words. Test each card on one person before it goes in the pile.
4. 4Add an office edition. Your product names, the meeting room everyone gets lost finding, the tool everyone loves to complain about. Keep real coworkers' names out of it.
5. 5Keep time with a phone. Any 60-second timer works, or keep this page open for the timer and score while you play from paper.

6 ways to change up the game

Same cards, new rules. Try one once everyone has described at least once.

1. 1. One-word clues

   The describer may only say one word at a time, then wait for a guess. Slower, much harder and great for a second game.

2. 2. Acting only

   Same card, no words at all. The describer acts the word out, and the forbidden words become ideas you may not act. It plays like charades with a twist.

3. 3. Draw it

   The describer draws the word on paper or a whiteboard, with no letters or numbers. Drawing any forbidden word is a foul.

4. 4. Skips cost a point

   Every skip gives the other team a point. It stops describers from skipping hard cards in the first second.

5. 5. Everyone for themselves

   For three to five players, no teams. Whoever guesses the word first scores a point and becomes the next describer.

6. 6. Christmas edition

   Tap the Christmas chip for 30 holiday cards, from Candy cane to Secret Santa. It fills ten minutes of a holiday party with zero setup.

If acting wins the night, switch to the charades word generator. If drawing does, the Pictionary word generator has 400+ words. More ideas in our 35 guessing games for adults.

Taboo is a trademark of Hasbro. KraftyLab is not affiliated with Hasbro; this page is an independent forbidden-words game with original cards.