Twenty-four cut-out prompt cards — actions, animals, things, places, people — plus the thing most charades tables never had on paper: the actual gesture code, printed where everyone can see it.
Two teams, one silent actor, one prompt from the bowl. The actor signals the category and word count with the gesture code, then performs — whole prompt or word by word — while their team shouts guesses. A correct guess inside the time limit scores; then the other team takes the stage. No sounds, no lip-movement, no spelling in the air: the silence is the game.
Charades collapses when the actor and the guessers speak different sign languages. The code on the sheet — word counts on raised fingers, syllables on the forearm, the earlobe tug for "sounds like" — is the traditional shared vocabulary, and having it visible turns first-timers into players in one round. House additions (the "small word" pinch, hot-and-cold palms) are printed too because everyone half-remembers them differently.
Cut the twenty-four cards along their dashed edges, fold once, and mix in a bowl. The mix is tuned for acting range — a flamingo asks different muscles than a washing machine — and deliberately avoids movie titles, so nobody's trivia gap becomes their team's problem. Prefer drawing to acting? The word lists page feeds the pencil-and-paper version.
Can the actor nod yes and no? Yes — responding to guesses with nods and the hot/cold palms is standard. Mouthing words is not.
Teams uneven? Rotate a permanent guesser to whichever team is acting — everyone plays, nobody sits.