Last Updated on December 6, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team
The Cast List is a competitive movie deduction game that tests how well you know films, actors, and your opponents. Each round, teams try to identify the actor who appears in two or more movies listed on a card. The fewer clues you need, the more points you score, so smart strategy and strong movie knowledge both matter.
Created by former world champion movie trivia expert Ben Bateman, the game challenges players to think quickly, listen carefully, and outsmart the opposing team. At the end of the game, the winning team uses the actors they earned to create a funny, over-the-top movie synopsis that gets read aloud for everyone’s amusement.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see our disclosures here.
How to Play The Cast List Trivia Game
Gameplay
1. Drawing a Card
At the start of a player’s turn, a member of the opposing team draws a card from the Actor Deck.
That opponent reads the first two movie titles listed on the card. These two clues share a single actor in common.
2. Solving the Actor Connection
The active player and their teammates now have 30 seconds to decide which actor appears in both films.
If they guess correctly, they immediately earn points based on how many clues they used.
If they guess incorrectly or can’t answer, they may request another movie clue from the same card.
Using Additional Clues
Each Actor Deck card contains five total movies, but the first two are always read first.
If the team needs more help, the opponent reads the next movie one at a time, up to three additional titles.
However, each extra movie comes with a penalty:
- Using only the first two clues earns maximum points.
- Every extra movie clue reduces the final score for that card by 1 point.
- Once the team hears all five clues, they must guess.
Earning Points
- Guess correctly after 2 clues → full points
- Guess after 3 clues → minus 1 point
- Guess after 4 clues → minus 2 points
- Guess after 5 clues → minus 3 points
Add the earned points to your team’s dashboard after every turn.
Winning the Game
After 5 rounds, both teams total the points recorded on their dashboards.
The team with the highest score wins.
As a final victory bonus, the winning team uses every actor they scored to create a wild, improvised movie synopsis that is read aloud for everyone at the table.


