30 Swahili Charades Words for Your Next Party (2026)

Charades is one of those games that works in any language — but it gets a lot funnier when the words actually live inside your culture. Instead of miming "piñata" or "lumberjack," imagine the room erupting because your cousin is trying to act out ugali or matatu makanga. That's the version of charades we grew up with, and it's the version Unajua? was built for.

Below is a tight starter set of 30 Swahili charades words — six per category, all chosen because they actually land at a Kenyan house party. Use them with a piece of paper and a timer, or skip the setup entirely and grab Unajua? for free on Android and iPhone.

How to use this Swahili charades word list

A few ground rules before you dive in:

1. Split into teams of 2–5. Smaller teams guess faster; bigger teams argue louder.
2. 60 seconds per round. One actor, no talking, no pointing at objects in the room.
3. Skip rule. If a word is too hard, pass — but you lose a point.
4. Kenyan house rule. Sound effects are allowed for animals only. Everything else is mime.

If you want all of this handled for you — timer, scoring, deck shuffling, and the tilt-to-play mechanic — just open Unajua? and pick a deck. But if you're running a physical game, read on.

6 Swahili animal words (wanyama)

Animals are the easiest category to start with. Perfect for warm-up rounds.

• Simba — Lion
• Tembo — Elephant
• Twiga — Giraffe
• Kifaru — Rhino
• Mamba — Crocodile
• Kuku — Chicken

6 Kenyan food words (vyakula)

Food words reward creativity — miming ugali with the right hand motion is a full performance.

• Ugali — maize flour staple
• Sukuma wiki — collard greens
• Nyama choma — roast meat
• Chapati — flatbread
• Mandazi — Swahili-coast doughnut
• Mutura — Kenyan blood sausage

6 Swahili action words (vitendo)

The heart of any charades game. These are the ones that get shouted.

• Kukimbia — to run
• Kucheka — to laugh
• Kulala — to sleep
• Kupika — to cook
• Kucheza — to dance / play
• Kuendesha — to drive

6 Kenyan place words (mahali)

Landmarks and cities. Bonus points if the actor commits to miming the traffic.

• Nairobi
• Mombasa
• Kisumu
• Maasai Mara
• Mount Kenya
• Lamu

6 famous Kenyans (watu mashuhuri)

Athletes, musicians, and icons. Swap in whoever feels current for your crew.

• Eliud Kipchoge
• Lupita Nyong'o
• Wangari Maathai
• Sauti Sol
• Nyashinski
• Khaligraph Jones

Want all this without the printing?

Every word above lives inside Unajua? — plus hundreds more, organised into decks like Tembea Kenya, Celebrities, Slang, Nairobi, Tourism, Sports, Actions, and Schools. The app handles the timer, the shuffle, and the scoring. All you bring is the group chat.

Unajua? is free on both Google Play and the App Store. No sign-up, no internet needed once it's installed. Pass the phone, hold it to your forehead, and tilt to score.

Now go make someone mime mutura in front of their in-laws.