Heads Up! alternatives: 10 ways to play the forehead guessing game

Heads Up! turned a parlour game into a phone game: hold the screen to your forehead, listen to your friends shout clues, and tilt to score. It’s a brilliant format, but it’s not always the right app for your group. Maybe you’d rather not pay for deck packs, half your friends have Android phones, you’re playing in Spanish, or nobody brought a charged phone.

This guide covers ten alternatives, from apps that work the same way to versions you can play with sticky notes. A disclosure up front: we make Chardz, which is one of the apps below. We’ve kept its entry as factual as the rest, and we’re upfront about where other options are better.

Why people look for a Heads Up! alternative

The reasons come up again and again in app reviews and party-planning forums:

• Cost. On iPhone, Heads Up! costs $1.99 to download, and many decks are sold separately, usually at $1.99 each. Those add up if you want variety.
• Platform. Your group needs an app that runs on the phone in the room. Some popular alternatives are iPhone-only.
• Language. Groups that don’t play in English need translated decks, not just a translated menu.
• Team scoring. Many apps show a score per round but leave you to track teams on paper.
• No phone at all. Kids’ parties, phone-free dinners and camping trips call for a version that needs nothing but paper.

Pick the alternative that fixes your actual problem. Here they are, grouped by how they solve it.

Apps that play just like Heads Up!

These all use the same forehead-and-tilt format. For a deeper side-by-side, see our comparison of the best charades apps, which covers prices, ratings and features in more detail.

1. Chardz (Android, plus a browser version)

Chardz is our free charades app for Android. It has 24 decks and over 3,000 words, 15 decks free from the start, and nine premium decks you unlock with tickets earned by playing or with a Premium subscription. Its standout feature is team tournaments: name teams, pick avatars, play several rounds and follow a live leaderboard. It works offline and lets you build custom decks and switch between tilt and tap controls.

It doesn’t have an iPhone app yet, and it doesn’t record video. But anyone can play a free version on our online charades page, which runs in Safari or Chrome on an iPhone, iPad or laptop.

2. Charades! (Android and iPhone)

Charades! by FatChicken Studios has been around for years and passed 10 million Android downloads. Besides describing words, many decks ask you to sing, dance, impersonate or sketch, which suits loud, theatrical groups. It is free with ads. Its Android listing shows no update since November 2023, so pop-culture decks feel a little dated.

3. Charades & Headbands: Guess Up (Android and iPhone)

Guess Up by Cosmicode is the one to try if your group plays in a language other than English: its store listing says it supports 26 languages. It has team mode, gameplay recording and shareable custom decks. It’s free with ads, and premium decks come with a VIP subscription.

4. Headbands (iPhone and iPad)

Headbands by DKraft Studio is a polished iPhone app with 95+ decks and SharePlay for playing over FaceTime. The catch is price: unlimited access is a subscription, listed in the US App Store at $8.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Great for frequent iPhone players, poor value for a once-a-year party.

5. Netflix Heads Up! (Android and iPhone, with a Netflix membership)

Not exactly an alternative, but worth knowing: Netflix offers its own edition of Heads Up! to members at no extra cost, with no ads and no in-app purchases. Its decks are built around Netflix shows. If everyone at the party already watches Netflix, this may be all you need.

Alternatives that don’t need an app

6. Sticky-note Heads Up (a.k.a. “Who Am I?”)

This is the pre-smartphone version, and it still works beautifully. Each player writes a famous person, character or thing on a sticky note and sticks it to someone else’s forehead without showing them. Players take turns asking yes-or-no questions (“Am I a real person?”, “Am I an animal?”) until they guess who they are.

It is slower and quieter than the phone game, which makes it great for dinner parties and mixed ages. To speed it up, play the phone-game rules instead: one guesser, everyone else shouts clues, 60 seconds on the clock.

7. Hedbanz-style board games

If you have young kids, the Hedbanz board game by Spin Master puts the same idea in a box: kids wear a headband with a picture card and ask questions to work out what they are. Picture cards mean children who can’t read yet can still play. Any toy shop or online retailer will have it, or a similar headband game, for less than the price of a few app decks.

8. Fishbowl (also called Celebrity or Salad Bowl)

Fishbowl uses the same “guess fast before the timer” energy without any device. Everyone writes three to five names or things on slips of paper and drops them in a bowl. Two teams then play three rounds with the same slips:

1. Describe it using any words except the answer.
2. One word only as a clue.
3. Act it out in silence.

Because the same slips come back each round, the jokes build on themselves, and by round three a single gesture can bring the house down. It’s one of the best games for groups of 8 to 20.

Similar party games with a different twist

9. Taboo and Catch Phrase

If your group likes the describing part of Heads Up! most, these classics are close cousins. In Taboo, you describe a word without saying a list of forbidden related words, which makes clue-giving much harder and funnier. Catch Phrase is a pass-the-device version: describe the word, hand it to the next player when your team guesses, and don’t be the one holding it when the buzzer goes.

10. Video-call charades with a word generator

For remote game nights, you don’t need a special app. The clue-giver opens a word generator on their own phone, reads the word privately and acts or describes it on camera while everyone else guesses. A free tool like Chardz online deals words from decks like movies, animals and food, runs the timer and keeps score. It works on Zoom, Google Meet, Teams or any other call.

How to choose

Match the alternative to the problem you’re solving:

Tips for any forehead guessing game

• Choose words your group knows. Obscure words kill the energy. For ready-made lists by difficulty, browse our charades ideas, or pick a theme like movies or famous people.
• Set house rules first. Decide whether clue-givers can act, sing, spell or say “rhymes with” before you start.
• Rotate quickly. Rounds of 60 seconds keep everyone involved. Long rounds leave half the room watching.
• Mix up the clue styles. Some words are easier to act than describe. Let clue-givers switch freely; that’s the fun.

If you’re teaching someone the game for the first time, our how to play charades guide explains both classic charades and the phone version.

Frequently asked questions

What is a free alternative to Heads Up!?

Chardz (Android) and Charades! (Android and iPhone) are free to download and include many free decks, with ads. On any device, you can play a free browser version on our play online page. Fishbowl and sticky-note “Who Am I?” cost nothing at all.

Is there a Heads Up! alternative for both iPhone and Android?

Yes. Charades! and Guess Up both have iPhone and Android apps. A browser-based game also works on both, without installing anything.

Can you play Heads Up! without the app?

Yes. Write words on sticky notes or slips of paper, put one on the guesser’s forehead (or hold it up behind them), and have the group give clues for 60 seconds. Keep a tally of correct guesses and rotate the guesser.

Is Chardz the same as Heads Up!?

It uses the same forehead-guessing format that Heads Up! made popular, but it’s a separate game made by an independent studio.

Heads Up! is a trademark of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Hedbanz, Taboo and Catch Phrase are trademarks of their respective owners. Chardz is an independent game and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.