Deal & Tally
A party game for 4 or more players in two teams. Everyone puts names in a bowl, and the same names come back for three rounds, each harder than the last. Also called Celebrity, Salad Bowl or the Hat Game.
Setup
- Each player secretly writes 3 names on slips of paper: famous people, characters or anything everyone in the room will know. Fold them and put them in a bowl.
- Or skip the paper: pass the phone around and let each player type their names into Deal & Tally. They stay hidden.
- Split into two teams and sit so the teams alternate.
A turn
- One player from the team gives clues for 1 minute. They pull a name, get their team to guess it, and pull the next one.
- Each name guessed is 1 point for the team. When time runs out, any name in progress goes back in the bowl.
- Turns alternate between teams, and each team's players take turns giving clues.
The three rounds
| Round 1: Describe it | any words but the name |
| Round 2: One word | a single word |
| Round 3: Act it out | no words or sounds |
A round ends when the bowl is empty. Put every name back in the bowl for the next round. By round 3, everyone knows the names, so the acting gets easier than it sounds.
House rules
- Some groups don't allow skipping. Others allow one skip per turn.
- Some groups let the clue giver keep their leftover time when the bowl empties and start the next round.
Winning
The team with the most points after round 3 wins.