How to play Fishbowl (the Salad Bowl game): rules and tips

By the Hangtime Games team · October 23, 2026

If we could only keep one party game for a big group, it would be this one. It takes two minutes to explain, nobody needs to be good at anything, and it gets funnier every round because the same names keep coming back. Depending on where you grew up it's Fishbowl, Salad Bowl, Celebrity, the Hat Game or just “the bowl game”. Same rules, more or less.

What you need

• 4 or more players (it shines with 8 to 16), split into two teams
• Slips of paper, pens, and a bowl (or a hat)
• A timer, usually 45 to 60 seconds a turn

Setup

Everyone secretly writes 3 to 5 names or things on separate slips: famous people, characters, places, inside jokes, anything most of the room will know. Fold them and drop them in the bowl. Split into two teams and sit so teammates alternate around the room.

The three rounds

1. Describe it. The clue-giver pulls a slip and says anything they like except the word itself (no spelling it out, no “rhymes with”). When their team gets it, grab the next slip.
2. One word. Same slips, back in the bowl. Now the clue-giver can say exactly one word per slip. By now everyone remembers the slips from round 1, so it's easier than it sounds.
3. Act it out. Same slips again, charades rules: no talking, no sounds. This is the round people talk about afterwards.

Teams take turns, a new clue-giver each turn. A round ends when the bowl is empty. If it empties mid-turn, many groups let that clue-giver keep their leftover time for the start of the next round.

Scoring

Every slip your team guesses is a point. Add up all three rounds; the team with the most points wins. If you pass on a slip, it goes back into the bowl (some groups allow one pass per turn).

What makes a good slip

• Mix the easy with the silly: “Taylor Swift” and “Grandma's famous biryani” both work.
• Things you can act out are gold for round 3: animals, jobs, famous moves.
• Avoid things only one person knows, unless it's a family legend everyone will get.

Playing Fishbowl without paper

Hangtime's Bowl Game runs the whole thing on phones: everyone writes their slips on their own phone, the clue-giver's phone shows one slip at a time with Got it and Pass buttons, and the TV keeps the clock and the score. It also works over a video call, which is handy for families spread across cities.