The free three-round fishbowl game Fishbowl

How to play Fishbowl

Fishbowl is a team word game played over three rounds with the same set of words. You need at least four people and one phone, which acts as the bowl, the timer and the scoreboard. The rules take a minute to explain and the game gets better every round.

1. 1Split into 2 teams. With a big group, you can play with up to 4.
2. 2Fill the bowl. Choose Our words and the app draws 30, 40 or 50 words, or choose Write your own and pass the phone so each player can secretly add 3 to 5 words.
3. 3Pick a turn length of 30, 45 or 60 seconds. Teams take turns: one player holds the phone and gives clues, and their teammates guess.
4. 4Round 1, Describe it: say anything you like, except the word itself.
5. 5Round 2, One word: you get a single word as your clue. Make it count.
6. 6Round 3, Act it out: no words at all, only gestures.
7. 7Tap Got it to take a word out of the bowl, or Pass to put it back. When the bowl is empty, the round is over, and the next one starts with the same words.

The trick is memory. By round two, everyone has heard every word at least once, so a clue like “breakfast” can be enough to land “pancakes”. By round three, a single gesture often does the job.

Fishbowl words

When you choose Our words, the app fills the bowl with 30, 40 or 50 words drawn from the list below. Every word is family-friendly. Want words only your group knows? Choose Write your own instead.

Filling the bowl, turns and scoring

Our words is the quick start. The size of the bowl decides how long the game runs: 30 words for a shorter game, 50 when you have the whole evening.

Write your own is where Fishbowl gets personal. Pass the phone around and each player secretly types 3 to 5 words: a favorite snack, a family trip, a cartoon from childhood. Nobody sees the others' words until they come out of the bowl in round one.

Turns alternate between teams. Got it takes the word out of the bowl and counts for your team. Pass sends it back in, so it will show up again later, maybe for the other team. A round ends as soon as the bowl is empty. The next round refills it with the same words, and the team whose turn is next starts.

The scoreboard keeps a running total across all three rounds. A slow start in round one isn't the end of the world; plenty of teams catch up when the gestures start.

Tips for a better Fishbowl game

• Pay attention in round one, even when it isn't your team's turn. Every word you hear now is a word you'll need later.
• In round two, reuse the clue that worked in round one. If someone described “pancakes” with Grandma's Sunday breakfast, “Grandma” might be all you need.
• Don't get stuck on one word. Pass it and spend your seconds on the easy ones; it will come back around.
• When you write your own words, pick things people can act out. Animals, foods and well-known characters beat abstract ideas.
• Agree on house rules before you start. Are sounds allowed in round three? Does “almost” count?
• Mix up the teams so each one has a fast talker and someone who isn't shy about acting.

Ways to play Fishbowl

Where Fishbowl works best

Fishbowl needs a room where people can see each other, since the last round is all gestures. It fits holiday gatherings, birthday parties and family game night, any time you have a group and an evening to fill.

It also makes a good icebreaker. With Write your own, everyone puts a little of themselves into the bowl, and new people get to know the group through the words they chose.

Teachers can turn it into a review game: have students add vocabulary words with Write your own, then describe, sum up and act out the same terms three times. Repetition is built into the rules.

Where the fishbowl game comes from

Fishbowl is a folk party game with no single inventor, and it travels under a lot of names: Salad Bowl, Celebrity, the Hat Game, the Name Game. In the Celebrity version, players write famous names on slips of paper; the bowl and the rounds work the same way. In Russia, it's known as Shlyapa, which means “the hat”, after the hat the slips go into.

Publishers have also sold boxed versions with printed cards, such as Time's Up! and Monikers. Our Fishbowl isn't connected to either. It's a free take on the traditional game, with the phone acting as bowl, timer and scorekeeper.

Questions