What is the Salad Bowl game?
Salad Bowl, also written Fishbowl or Fish Bowl in many groups, is a team guessing game built around one shared pool of prompts. Players create the pool themselves, split into teams and reuse the same prompts over several rounds while the clue rules get more restrictive.
The physical version usually uses slips of paper in a bowl. The exact container does not matter. The repeated prompt pool does.
Why is it also called Fishbowl, Celebrity or The Name Game?
There is no single universal name. Different countries, families and friendship groups have inherited slightly different labels and house rules. The table below shows the most common distinction rather than pretending there is one official global standard.
| Name | Typical prompt pool | Common emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Celebrity | Famous people and characters | Recognisable names and shared cultural knowledge |
| Fishbowl | People, characters, objects or phrases | A broad prompt pool with multiple clue rounds |
| Salad Bowl | Often the same as Fishbowl | The physical bowl of mixed paper prompts |
| The Name Game / Hat Game | Usually people or characters | The container or “names in a hat” setup |
House rules vary more than the names do. If your group has always played “Fishbowl” with celebrities only, there is nothing wrong with that.
The classic three-round version
A useful shorthand is Taboo-style description → Password-style one word → Charades. House rules vary, but the repeated pool is the important part.
1. Describe
Give verbal clues without saying the answer itself.
2. One word
Use exactly one clue word for each prompt.
3. Act
Use gestures only. No spoken clues.
Some groups swap the order, add drawing, use sounds, or invent extra rounds. Celebrity Salad uses Describe It → One Word → Act It as its classic order because each stage naturally builds on the previous one.
How to play with paper
- Give every player equal slips of paper.
- Write one name or prompt on each slip.
- Fold everything and mix it in a bowl or hat.
- Split into two teams and choose a turn length.
- Alternate turns until the bowl is empty.
- Put every slip back and start the next clue round.
- Add the points across all rounds.
What the Celebrity Salad app replaces
Celebrity Salad keeps the one-room team-game experience but replaces paper slips, manual shuffling, separate timers and handwritten scores, with support for two to four teams. Players still submit their own celebrity names privately and use one shared iPhone or iPad.
If you want the app-specific version, use the official Celebrity Salad rules.
What should go in the bowl?
If you are playing a celebrity-focused version, choose famous people or characters most of the room can plausibly identify. If your group prefers a broader Fishbowl format, agree before starting whether objects, phrases and fictional characters are allowed.
For a ready-made starting point, see our 100 celebrity name ideas.
Best group size
Two teams need at least four people. Around six to twelve gives you enough clue-givers and enough submitted names without making each round unmanageably long. For bigger groups, shorten turns or reduce the number of prompts per person.