Party Word Game Timer
Team 1's Turn
Scoreboard — Tap a Team to Set Active
Space starts or pauses. R resets the round.
Taboo is a team word-guessing party game: one player describes a word on a card without saying it, or any of the five "taboo" words listed beneath it, while their team races to guess it before time runs out. A shared, visible round timer keeps every turn fair and every team honest about how much time is really left.
This timer is built for exactly that. Set your round length — the official rules use 60 seconds, but shorter or longer rounds work just as well for a casual game night — and use the scoreboard below to track points for two teams as you play. Tap a team's card to mark it as active, and use the plus and minus buttons to add or subtract points for correct guesses and taboo violations.
Press Start Round to begin the countdown. When time runs out, an alarm sounds and a message appears so nobody argues about whether the round really ended. Close it, pass the cards to the next team, and press Start Round again — your scores carry over automatically until you're ready to reset them for a new game.
Team size matters more than most groups expect. Two people per team keeps everyone engaged; once a team grows past four or five, one or two players end up doing all the guessing while the rest watch. If your group is larger, run two games side by side or rotate players between rounds so nobody sits out for long.
Agree on house rules before the first card, not after a disputed one. Common points of disagreement: whether gestures and sounds count as cheating, whether the clue-giver can say "sounds like" or "rhymes with," and how many free skips are allowed per turn. Settling these upfront saves an argument mid-game.
The timer and scoreboard on this page work for more than Taboo. Charades, Pictionary-style drawing games, and any "describe it without saying it" format can reuse the same round timer and two-team score tracker — just agree on your own rules for what counts as a valid clue.
How long is a Taboo round?
The official rules use 60 seconds, but many groups play shorter or longer rounds depending on how fast-paced they want the game. Set any round length you like above.
What happens if the clue-giver wants to skip a card?
Most house rules allow a couple of free skips per turn, then a penalty point after that. Agree on your own skip limit before playing, since official rules vary between editions — use the score buttons above to track it however you like.
How do you score Taboo?
Teams typically earn a point for each word guessed correctly and lose a point if the clue-giver says a taboo word. Teams alternate turns, and the highest score wins.
Can I use this timer for other party games?
Yes — the round timer and two-team scoreboard work for any timed guessing or charades-style game, not just Taboo.
Need something calmer between rounds? Try our Pomodoro timer, or set a plain countdown timer for anything else.
Pass the card to the next team.