How do you play fishbowl?

Split into two or more teams and fill a bowl with words or names. In round 1 a player describes as many words as possible before the time runs out while their team guesses. Then the next team plays with the words that are left. When the bowl is empty, round 2 starts with the same words, but only one word may be said as a clue; in round 3 the words are acted out. The team with the most points after the last round wins.

Is fishbowl the same as salad bowl or the celebrity game?

Yes. Fishbowl, salad bowl, the hat game and the celebrity game are names for the same game. In the celebrity game the slips are names of famous people; in fishbowl they can be anything.

What words should we put in the bowl?

A mix of things everyone knows: people, characters, places, animals, foods and objects. Three to five slips per player is enough; 30 to 50 slips make a good game. If you are short of ideas, add words from our list of more than 2,000 family-friendly words.

How many players do you need?

At least four, in two teams of two. It works best with 6 to 12 players. The game supports up to four teams.

How long does a game take?

About 30 to 45 minutes with 40 slips, 60 seconds a turn and three rounds. Fewer slips or shorter turns make it quicker.

Yes. Skip puts the word back into the bowl and shows the next one. The last word of a round cannot be skipped.

Do we need paper and a bowl?

No. The phone holds the slips, draws them at random, runs the timer and keeps the score, so you only need one phone and your friends.

Do I need to sign up or download an app?

No. There is no account and nothing to install. Open the page on any phone and play. The words you type stay on that phone.

Game

Fishbowl Game (Salad Bowl)

The party game also called salad bowl or celebrity: everyone adds words to the bowl, then the teams guess the same words three times, with fewer clues each round. One phone is the bowl, the timer and the scoreboard. No sign-up, no app, no paper.

Updated October 19, 2026 · Free, no sign-up

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Teams

Seconds per turn

Rounds

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What is the fishbowl game?

Fishbowl is a party game for teams. Everyone writes a few words or names on slips of paper, the slips go into a bowl, and the teams take turns getting their teammates to guess as many slips as they can before the time runs out. The trick: the same slips come back three times, and every round you may say less. It is also called salad bowl, the hat game or, when the slips are famous people, the celebrity game.

On this page the phone is the bowl, the timer and the scoreboard. No sign-up, no app and no paper: pass one phone around and play.

The three rounds

Round	What the clue-giver may do
1. Describe it	Say anything you like to get your team to the word, but not the word itself, no part of it, no “sounds like” and no spelling.
2. One word	Give one single word as a clue. You may repeat it and point, but say nothing else.
3. Act it out	No talking at all: act it out, like charades. Sounds are not allowed either.
Extra: Sounds only	Make sounds and noises, but no real words and no acting with your hands.

The rounds get harder, but by round three everyone has heard every word twice. That is what makes the game funny: a single clue word or a silly gesture from round one can carry a word all the way to the end.

How to play fishbowl

How to play the fishbowl game (salad bowl): the four steps, the three rounds describe it, one word and act it out, and twelve slip ideas — The three rounds of fishbowl, the steps, and slips to start with.

How to play on one phone

Name 2 to 4 teams and choose 30, 45, 60 or 90 seconds per turn.
Fill the bowl: pass the phone around and let everyone add 3 to 5 words or names in secret, or tap +10 of our words to use ours. You need at least 10 slips; 30 to 50 make the best game.
The first team hands the phone to a clue-giver, who taps Start the turn. A slip appears; when the team guesses it, tap Got it and the next slip appears. Skip puts a slip back into the bowl.
When the time is up, the next team plays with the slips that are still in the bowl.
When the bowl is empty, the round is over. All the slips go back in and the next round starts.
After the last round the team with the most points wins. Play again with the same words or fill the bowl anew.

Fishbowl game words and ideas

Good slips are things everyone at the table knows: people from the news or the family, characters from films and books, places, animals, foods and things you can act out. Inside jokes work too. Short of ideas? The game can add words from our list of 2,075 family-friendly words in 16 topics. A few of them:

Topic	Examples
Animals	Elephant, Giraffe, Penguin, Kangaroo, Octopus, Shark, Owl, Lion
Food & drinks	Pizza, Sushi, Hamburger, Pancake, Spaghetti, Taco, Ice cream, Popcorn
Places	Beach, Hospital, School, Library, Airport, Supermarket, Cinema, Zoo
Jobs	Doctor, Teacher, Firefighter, Chef, Pilot, Police officer, Astronaut, Dentist
Fantasy & fairy tales	Dragon, Wizard, Unicorn, Mermaid, Vampire, Ghost, Witch, Fairy
Things people do	Parallel parking, Sleepwalking, Window shopping, Packing a suitcase, Whistling, Making the bed, Doing laundry, Washing dishes
Funny & silly	Whoopee cushion, Rubber duck, Banana peel, Bad hair day, Brain freeze, Photobomb, Tickle fight, Food fight
Famous landmarks	Eiffel tower, Statue of liberty, Great wall of china, Pyramids, Big ben, Colosseum, Taj mahal, Mount everest

Tips for a better game

Remember the clues. In round two, the one word that worked in round one usually works again.
Don’t skip too fast. A skipped word comes back, often to the next team.
Mix the teams. Split up couples and best friends, or the inside jokes win every round.
Keep slips short. One to three words. A whole sentence is no fun to act out.
Agree on the rules first. Is “rhymes with” allowed in round one? Decide before the timer starts.

Fishbowl, salad bowl and celebrity: what is the difference?

Nothing but the name and the slips. Salad bowl and the hat game are the same game under other names. The celebrity game uses only names of famous people, which makes round three (acting) especially hard. Some groups also play a fourth round with sounds only; switch it on under Rounds.

Is it private?

Yes. The words you type stay on the phone you type them on; nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no account. When you close the page, the bowl is empty again.

More party games: Charades, the Imposter Game and the Rhyme Game.

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<iframe data-linguaholic src="https://linguaholic.com/games/embed/fishbowl-game/" title="Fishbowl Game by Linguaholic" width="100%" height="720" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
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Frequently asked questions

How do you play fishbowl?: Split into two or more teams and fill a bowl with words or names. In round 1 a player describes as many words as possible before the time runs out while their team guesses. Then the next team plays with the words that are left. When the bowl is empty, round 2 starts with the same words, but only one word may be said as a clue; in round 3 the words are acted out. The team with the most points after the last round wins.
Is fishbowl the same as salad bowl or the celebrity game?: Yes. Fishbowl, salad bowl, the hat game and the celebrity game are names for the same game. In the celebrity game the slips are names of famous people; in fishbowl they can be anything.
What words should we put in the bowl?: A mix of things everyone knows: people, characters, places, animals, foods and objects. Three to five slips per player is enough; 30 to 50 slips make a good game. If you are short of ideas, add words from our list of more than 2,000 family-friendly words.
How many players do you need?: At least four, in two teams of two. It works best with 6 to 12 players. The game supports up to four teams.
How long does a game take?: About 30 to 45 minutes with 40 slips, 60 seconds a turn and three rounds. Fewer slips or shorter turns make it quicker.
Can we skip a word?: Yes. Skip puts the word back into the bowl and shows the next one. The last word of a round cannot be skipped.
Do we need paper and a bowl?: No. The phone holds the slips, draws them at random, runs the timer and keeps the score, so you only need one phone and your friends.
Do I need to sign up or download an app?: No. There is no account and nothing to install. Open the page on any phone and play. The words you type stay on that phone.

About this page

The Fishbowl Game is a free game from Linguaholic, made by Marcel Iseli. It runs in your browser, with no sign-up. Last updated October 19, 2026.

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