Was that gesticulation supposed to be a coconut tree or a volcano? Were those gyrating motions supposed to be a belly dance or a genie coming out of a lamp? Were those squared hands held out while swaying supposed to be carrying a heavy box or an awkward slow dance with a woman?
Speechless if a fun twist on the classic charades gameplay. Each player takes a turn acting out six different single-word clues in 90 seconds (15 seconds each may seem like plenty of time per word, but time runs out all too quickly!). The first two words are easy, the second two mid-level, and the last two are hard. Guessing players don't guess out loud, they write down their answers secretly on a card. Score two points for each correct answer. The twist? You may still get a point if you guessed incorrectly as long as someone else guessed the same incorrect answer! This led to lots of laughs as a player would announce a seemingly ridiculous guess followed by someone else declaring, "I guessed that too!"
The words provided were a perfect balance where the easy ones are easy enough to allow kids to play alongside adults. The hard words were usually over kids' heads, but it was still fun for them to guess and especially for adults to hear their guesses! And trying to ascertain what a kid was trying to act out with the hard words was hilarious.
I also really like the high amount of motivation for the player doing the actions as he or she gets two points per correct guess corresponding to the player with the most correct guesses (meaning, if someone made five correct guesses, the highest for that round, the player whose turn it is would get 10 points). This led to cheers from the actor for difficult correct guesses and lots of groans for incorrect guesses that seemed perfectly obvious to him/her.
This was a great game for those who tend to be shyer about acting in front of people. Each player's turn is so quick with each word taking mere seconds that it doesn't put the spotlight on them for too long at all.
Overall, I give Speechless a 7. It's super quick to learn, simple, fun, and very interactive for a good-sized group of up to eight...and it leads to lots of laughter!
WARNING: