Guide
Games like Monikers
Monikers comes from the old paper-slip game Celebrity, also called Fishbowl: the same pile of names three times, with stricter rules each round. The joke is that round three is built on jokes from rounds one and two.
How the three rounds work
Round one: say anything but the answer. Round two: one word only. Round three: act it out without a sound. The pile stays the same, so by the last round a single gesture can bring back a whole story from earlier.
Four ways to play it
Play it here
Word & Deed
Two teams, the same pile of words for three rounds: describe, one word, act. The performer's phone shows the word and keeps time; Got it scores, Skip sends a word to the back of the pile once a turn. The host picks the length by the size of the pile.
- Players
- 4–12, two teams
- Length
- 8–30 min
- You need
- A phone each; better with a big screen
- Who runs it
- The phones
- Knocked out?
- No
Good for Groups who want the three rounds with no prep: the words are drawn for you, in English, Simplified or Traditional Chinese, or each player's own language.
Not for Groups who love writing their own inside-joke slips: Word & Deed's words come from its pack.
Board game
Celebrity / Fishbowl
The folk original: everyone writes names on slips, they go in a bowl, and teams play the same slips three times with stricter rules.
- Players
- 6 or more, in two teams
- Length
- 30–60 min
- You need
- Paper slips, pens, a bowl and a timer
- Who runs it
- Nobody
- Knocked out?
- No
Good for Groups who want their own names and in-jokes in the bowl.
Not for A table without pens, or where someone always writes an impossible slip.
Board game
Monikers
The boxed version with funny, specific cards to draft from. The same three rounds, one minute per turn.
- Players
- 4+ in two teams
- Length
- 30–60 min
- You need
- Cards and a timer
- Who runs it
- Nobody
- Knocked out?
- No
Good for Adult groups who enjoy pop-culture references.
Not for Families or players from outside the culture the cards come from.
Board game
Time's Up! Party
A boxed three-round guessing game from Repos Production with a 30-second turn timer.
- Players
- 4–12
- Length
- 40+ min
- You need
- Cards and a sand timer
- Who runs it
- Nobody
- Knocked out?
- No
Good for Groups who want a well-known boxed edition.
Not for Very short evenings.
How to choose
No prep at all
Word & Deed: open it on your phones.
Your own names in the bowl
Celebrity / Fishbowl.
A mixed-language group
Word & Deed's Universal words: each performer sees the word in their own language.
Questions
What is the difference between Monikers and Celebrity?
Celebrity (also called Fishbowl) is the public-domain paper-slip game; Monikers is a published card version of it with its own cards and a one-minute timer.
Can I play Monikers on partygame?
No. Word & Deed is our own game on the three-round idea, with its own word packs and scoring.
Everyone in the same room?
partygame is for playing face to face, not online matchmaking: each phone keeps your secret and counts the votes, the talking happens at the table. Open a table in the browser, free, no app.