From the Toysit archive
Hilarium
Discover Hilarium’s simultaneous performances, matching action cards and play money, then invent a job fair for imaginary workers.
The play at a glance
Look for the person playing your part
Hilarium puts a turquoise board at the center of a table surrounded by colored cards and play money. Around it, several performances happen at once. While showing one of the actions in your hand, you watch the other players for someone who appears to be doing the same thing.Match an action and pick another
Players begin with five cards and use the same selected color on the split-color deck. Everyone performs simultaneously, looking for a matching action. Once two players think they have a match, they show each other their cards to confirm it, put the matched cards down and draw replacements while the draw pile lasts.
The official rules give performers several ways to communicate: act, sing, dance, mime or speak while avoiding the card’s printed words and their variations, except words shown in quotation marks. Two people might express the same action quite differently, so recognizing a match can be part of the comedy.
The GOTCHA card adds a passing complication: it has no match, and its holder tries to hand it over when making a successful match. Play money records the results over four rounds. The guide explains the central pot, penalties and the end-of-round call.
Try an imaginary job fair
For this original Toysit activity, invent a workplace full of unusual jobs. Make two identical paper cards for each job—cloud polisher, moon gardener or rainbow ribbon-tidier—and deal one card to each player, using complete pairs.
- Everyone mimes their job at the same time. Small hand movements or seated gestures work well.
- Watch for someone whose work looks like yours. Compare cards when you think you have found your partner.
- Each pair invents a two-sentence description of its workplace: what it looks like and what happens there each morning.
- Draw a sign for the workplace and arrange the signs into a tiny employment fair.
A reader or illustrator can help introduce the jobs. The quiet mime round is a rule of this homemade activity; Hilarium itself offers the broader performance choices described above.
The historical record
Original Toysit coverage
The original product account and commentary are preserved below as historical coverage.
The charades game that makes any situation a party.
The game Hilarium offers a unique and uproarious twist on traditional charades that promises a chaotic good time for players. Unlike classic charades, where one person acts while others guess, Hilarium flips the script by having everyone act out their cards simultaneously. The objective is to find your "action twin" among the cacophony of gestures, movements, and miming. This leads to a room full of people wildly flapping their arms, hopping on one leg, or pretending to play the guitar, all while trying to make eye contact with someone doing the same thing. The game has the power to dissolve inhibitions and draw even the shyest participants into the fray, as it's nearly impossible not to laugh at the collective silliness unfolding. With Hilarium, every round is a whirlwind of laughter, confusion, and joyful surprises, making it a perfect game for parties and gatherings where the aim is to let loose and have fun.
Sources and editorial notes
Mattel’s four-page guide 42979-0920, copyright 2001, matches the pictured Hilarium layout and components. It labels the game for adults and permits acting, singing and speech within its word restrictions; the historical emphasis on miming is not a silence rule. Its sand-timer note explicitly says the timer is not used in this game. The original inhibition-breaking claims remain historical commentary. The homemade job fair is a separate editorial mime activity with its own gentle prompts. No physical testing was performed.
- Original Toysit image — Existing same-site photograph reviewed and retained unchanged.
- Mattel Hilarium instructions, 42979-0920 — All four pages reviewed, including the quick list, speech rules, GOTCHA, scoring and contents.
- Mattel support: Hilarium 42979 — Manufacturer identification and adult audience label.
- Original Toysit coverage — Complete original product account and historical commentary preserved.
Images and descriptions are retained as historical material. How Toysit covers toys.
Created for Toysit by Tabbloza — the artwork in our header.