Taboo is another classic game. It came out in 1989 and is a standard for word based party games. Most people have seen it in stores or played it with friends. There is a huge audience for this, people love the challenge of answering under pressure. Giving clues with restrictions can be a challenge, but adding that time restraint adds an element of panic that keeps the game interesting.

Taboo really does define what a party game should be. It’s easy enough to be up and playing in minutes. There aren’t a lot of pieces so you don’t need a giant table. It’s not intimidating and great for people who don’t play a lot of games. Then on top of that there’s a buzzer, everyone loves being the person to control the buzzer.

Taboo is published by Hasbro and designed by Brian Hersch. It is a party game for 4 to 10 players ages 12 and up. It takes about half an hour to play.

Contents

• 504 Cards
• Card Holder
• Buzzer
• Timer
• Scorepad

Set Up

Place the Buzzer and Timer where everyone can reach. Fill the Card Holder with cards. Divide into two teams.

Team A chooses one player to be the first clue giver. That player sits facing the card holder.

Team B sits behind the clue giver so they can see the clues. Team B also has the buzzer.

Team A sit opposite the clue giver so that they cannot see the cards. They will be shouting out the answers.

Once that turn is over teams will switch sides.

How to Play

The clue giver draws a card and places it on the easel. The word at the top is what they are trying to get the team to guess. The five words below are taboo and cannot be used in the clues.

Once the card is placed on the easel, turn over the timer and start giving clues. Clues can be sentences, phrases or single words. Obviously none of the taboo words can be used, but also there cannot be sound effects, “sounds like”, hand gestures, or abbreviations.

The team guessing can shout out as many answers as possible, there is no penalty if you are wrong. Each correct guess scores a point. Once a card is correctly guess a new card is added to the easel. At the end of the turn those correct cards can be taken to keep score. Each card is one point.

Clue givers can lose points if they pass on a card or if they get buzzed. Those cards are awarded to the other team. The other team will buzz if you break any of the rules giving clues.

The clue giver will keep giving clues until the timer runs out.

End of Game

Once everyone has had a chance to be the clue giver, the scores are added up and the highest score will win.

If you like Taboo, try:

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