Celebrity Salad in 30 seconds
Celebrity Salad is a face-to-face team guessing game. Players either privately submit celebrity names or use a curated pack. Those names form the Salad and are reused in every round. Teams alternate timed turns and score one point for every correct guess.
The classic game has three rounds: Describe It, One Word and Act It. Because the exact same names return, clues and mistakes from earlier rounds become part of the group's shared memory.
1. Set up the game
- Create a Salad. Choose the turn length, submissions per player and rounds you want to play.
- Add 4–12 players. Nicknames are completely fine.
- Build two to four teams. Start with two balanced teams, then rename, rebalance or add teams before play begins.
- Fill the Salad. For a custom game, pass the iPhone or iPad around so each player privately submits names. With a curated pack, the app can draw the names automatically.
- Toss the Salad. Once everyone has submitted, the names are mixed and Round One is ready.
2. Round One: Describe It
The clue-giver sees one celebrity at a time and describes that person to their team. You can use as many words as you like, but you cannot say the celebrity's name or any part of it.
When your team guesses correctly, tap Correct. If you want to move on, tap Skip. A skipped celebrity stays in the round and can appear again later.
When the timer reaches zero, the turn ends and the device passes to the next team. Teams cycle in setup order until every celebrity has been guessed. Each correct answer is worth one point.
3. Round Two: One Word
Every celebrity from Round One returns. This time the clue-giver may say exactly one clue word for each celebrity. No extra explanation and no gestures.
The round is easier than it sounds because everyone has already heard all the names and clues once. A single word can bring back an entire Round One conversation.
4. Round Three: Act It
The full Salad returns again. The clue-giver can act and gesture, but cannot speak, make sounds or give verbal clues. Your team tries to connect the performance with names they remember from the earlier rounds.
Turns keep alternating until the Salad is empty for the final time.
5. Scoring and winning
Every correct celebrity is worth one point to the guessing team. Scores carry across all three rounds. At the end of the final round, the team with the highest total score wins.
If you accidentally mark the wrong celebrity as correct, use Undo to put the point and celebrity back without derailing the game.
What happens when you skip?
Skipping does not remove a celebrity from the round. It puts the card back into circulation so it can return later. The game avoids immediately serving the same skipped card again where possible.
What makes a good celebrity name?
The best names are recognisable to most of the room but still give people something interesting to describe or act. A good Salad usually mixes obvious names with a smaller number of harder choices.
- Choose people most of the group has heard of.
- Mix actors, musicians, sportspeople, presenters, historical figures and fictional characters.
- Avoid deliberately obscure names that only one player could know.
- Inside jokes can be fun, but agree whether non-celebrities are allowed before you start.
Need inspiration? Use our 100 celebrity name ideas.
How many people can play?
Celebrity Salad supports 4–12 players. Four is the practical minimum because the classic game uses two teams. Larger groups create more variety, but they also add more cards, so reducing submissions per player or shortening turns keeps the pace high.
Common rules questions
Do the same names really come back every round?
Yes. Reusing the same celebrity pool is the defining mechanic. Players remember earlier clues, which is why One Word and Act It become possible and usually much funnier.
Can two people submit the same celebrity?
Yes. Duplicate submissions remain separate cards, so the same name can appear more than once if different players independently choose it.
Can you end a game early?
Yes. If the group needs to stop, Celebrity Salad can end the game early and preserve the scores already earned.