Taboo (game)

Last updated
Taboo
Taboo 02.jpg
Designers Brian Hersch
IllustratorsAlbert Uderzo
Publishers Hasbro
Publication1989;35 years ago (1989)
Genres Party game
Players4-10
Setup time1 minute
Playing time20 minutes
Age range12+
Skillsverbal skills

Taboo is a word, guessing, and party game published by Parker Brothers in 1989 (subsequently purchased by Hasbro). [1] The objective of the game is for a player to have their partners guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card.

Contents

The game is similar to Catch Phrase, also from Hasbro, in which a player tries to get their teammates to guess words using verbal clues.

From 2003, a TV game show adaptation ran on TNN, hosted by Chris Wylde. [2]

Equipment

Some early editions included a board to track progress (as shown in the photo on this page). [3]

In 1990, Hasbro sold packs of additional words, but they are no longer in production.

The second edition of the game, produced in 1994, has a round, pink squeaker, or hooter, instead of a buzzer, as do the 1993 and 1990 editions.

Taboo Junior, the game for younger players, includes a purple squeaker, as do a few of the other editions from 1996 and 2002 as well as 2012.

Rules

An even number of players from four to ten sit alternating around in a circle. Players take turns as the "giver", who attempts to prompt their teammates to guess as many keywords as possible in the allotted time. However, each card also has "taboo" (forbidden) words listed which may not be spoken. Should the giver say one, a "censor" on the opposing team hits the buzzer and the giver must move on to the next word. For example, the giver might have to get their team to deduce the word "baseball" without offering the words "sport", "game", "pastime", "hitter", "pitcher", or "baseball" itself as clues. The giver may not say a part of a "taboo" word; [4] for example, using "base" in "baseball" is taboo. Nor may they use a form of a word; for example, if the word was "wedding" and the taboo words are "marriage", "bride", "groom", "nuptials", or "honeymoon", the words "marry" and "bridal" would not be allowed. The giver may only use speech to prompt their teammates; gestures, sounds (e.g., barking), or drawings are not allowed. Singing is permitted, provided the singer is singing words rather than humming or whistling a tune. The giver's hints may rhyme with a taboo word, or be an abbreviation of a taboo word.

While the giver is prompting the teammates, they may make as many guesses as they want with no penalties for wrong guesses. Once the team correctly guesses the word exactly as written on the card, the giver moves on to the next word, trying to get as many words as possible in the allotted time. When time runs out, play passes to the next adjacent player of the other team. The playing team receives one point for correct guesses and one penalty point if "taboo" words are spoken.

Variations

Related Research Articles

<i>Cluedo</i> Board game

Cluedo, known as Clue in North America, is a murder mystery game for three to six players that was devised in 1943 by British board game designer Anthony E. Pratt. The game was first manufactured by Waddingtons in the United Kingdom in 1949. Since then, it has been relaunched and updated several times, and it is currently owned and published by the American game and toy company Hasbro.

Balderdash is a board game variant of a classic parlour game known as Fictionary or the Dictionary Game. It was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game was first released in 1984 under Canada Games. It was later picked up by a U.S company, The Games Gang, and eventually became the property of Hasbro and finally Mattel. The game has sold over 15 million copies worldwide to date. It is aimed at fans of word games, such as Scrabble.

<i>Pictionary</i> Word guessing game

Pictionary is a charades-inspired word-guessing game invented by Robert Angel with graphic design by Gary Everson and first published in 1985 by Angel Games Inc. Angel Games licensed Pictionary to Western Publishing. Hasbro purchased the rights in 1994 after acquiring the games business of Western Publishing. Mattel acquired ownership of Pictionary in 2001. The game is played in teams with players trying to identify specific words from their teammates.

<i>Sorry!</i> (game) Board game

Sorry! is a board game that is based on the ancient Indian cross and circle game Pachisi. Players move their three or four pieces around the board, attempting to get all of their pieces "home" before any other player. Originally manufactured by W.H. Storey & Co in England and now by Hasbro, Sorry! is marketed for two to four players, ages 6 and up. The game title comes from the many ways in which a player can negate the progress of another, while issuing an apologetic "Sorry!"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cranium (board game)</span> Party board game

Cranium is a party game created by Whit Alexander and Richard Tait in 1998. Initially, Cranium was sold through Amazon.com and the Starbucks coffee chain, then-novel methods of distribution. After selling 44 million copies of Cranium and its sister titles, the game's manufacturer Cranium, Inc. was bought by Hasbro, Inc. for $77.5 million in 2008. Billed as "The Game for Your Whole Brain", Cranium includes a wide variety of activities, unlike many other party games. Giorgio Davanzo handles packaging and branding for the game, and the artwork is by cartoonist Gary Baseman.

<i>Operation</i> (game) Battery-operated game of physical skill

Operation is a battery-operated game of physical skill that tests players' hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. The game's prototype was invented in 1964 by University of Illinois industrial-design student John Spinello, who sold his rights to renowned toy designer Marvin Glass for $500 and the promise of a job upon graduation, which was not fulfilled. Initially produced by Milton Bradley in 1965, Operation is currently produced by Hasbro, with an estimated franchise worth $40 million.

<i>Guess Who?</i> Childrens board game

Guess Who? is a two-player board game in which players each guess the identity of the other's chosen character. The game was developed by Israeli game inventors Ora and Theo Coster, the founders of Theora Design. It was first released in Dutch in 1979 under the name Wie is het? Milton Bradley then produced the game in the United Kingdom, and it was brought to the United States in 1982. It is now owned by Hasbro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catch Phrase (game)</span> Board game

Catch Phrase is a word guessing party game commercially available from Hasbro.

<i>Mall Madness</i> Board game

Mall Madness is a shopping themed board game released by Milton Bradley in 1988.

Celebrity is a party game similar to Charades, where teams play against each other to guess as many celebrity names as possible before time runs out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Big Taboo</span>

The Big Taboo is a variation on the board game Taboo. It incorporates elements from games like Pictionary, Charades, and 25 Words or Less to create a party game with "a little bit of everything". The game was published in 2008 by Winning Moves Games USA and is no longer in production.

<i>25 Words or Less</i> 1996 board game

25 Words or Less is a party board game in which two teams of players take turns bidding words back and forth, until one team allows the other to try to give that number of clues to their team to try guessing five words from a card in only one minute. It was first published by Winning Moves Games USA in 1996 and was republished in 2006 as 25 Words or Less: People, Places and Things Edition. The game is no longer in production.

<i>The Game of Life</i> Board game created in 1860

The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a board game originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley as The Checkered Game for Life, the first ever board game for his own company, the Milton Bradley Company. The Game of Life was US's first popular parlour game. The game simulates a person's travels through their life, from early adulthood to retirement, with college if necessary, jobs, marriage, and possible children along the way. Up to six players, depending on the version, can participate in a single game. Variations of the game accommodate up to ten players.

<i>Dixit</i> (board game) 2008 French card game

Dixit, is a French board game created by Jean-Louis Roubira, illustrated by Marie Cardouat, and published by Libellud. Using a set of cards illustrated with dreamlike images, players select cards that match a title suggested by the designated storyteller player, and attempt to guess which card the storyteller selected. The game was introduced in 2008. Dixit won the 2010 Spiel des Jahres award.

Family Game Night is an American television game show based on Hasbro's family of board games and EA's video game franchise of the same name. The show was hosted by Todd Newton. Burton Richardson was the announcer for the first two seasons; he was replaced by Stacey J. Aswad in the third season, and Andrew Kishino was hired for the fourth season. The 60-minute program debuted on October 10, 2010, on The Hub ; it was previewed on October 9, 2010, on its sister channel, TLC. Seasons 1 and 2 contained 26 and 30 episodes respectively. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 each contained 15 episodes. Season 2 premiered on Friday, September 2, 2011, with additional games being added. The games added to the second season included Cranium Brain Breaks, Green Scream, Ratuki Go-Round, Simon Flash, Operation Sam Dunk, Trouble Pop Quiz, and Spelling Bee. However games from the previous season were still kept.

Time's Up is a charades-based party game designed by Peter Sarrett, and published by R&R Games, Inc., a Tampa, FL based manufacturer of tabletop games and party games. The first edition of the game was published in 1999, with the most recent edition, Time's Up! Deluxe, published in 2008. It is a game for teams of two or more players, and is played in three rounds. Time's Up! is based on the classic parlour game known as Celebrity.

<i>Codenames</i> (board game) 2015 spy-themed board game

Codenames is a 2015 party card game designed by Vlaada Chvátil and published by Czech Games Edition. Two teams compete by each having a "spymaster" give one-word clues that can point to multiple words on the board. The other players on the team attempt to guess their team's words while avoiding the words of the other team. Codenames received positive reviews and won the 2016 Spiel des Jahres award for the best board game of the year.

Cluedo, known as Clue in North America, is a murder mystery-themed multimedia franchise started in 1949 with the manufacture of the Cluedo board game. The franchise has since expanded to film, television game shows, book series, computer games, board game spinoffs, a comic, a play, a musical, jigsaws, card games, and other media.

<i>Just One</i> (board game) 2018 board game

Just One is a cooperative party game for 3 to 7 players, designed by Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter and published by Repos Production in 2018. In each round of the game, players write down a one word clue for the round's guesser, who must figure out the secret word for the round. Identical clues are discarded before the guesser sees them.

References

  1. 1 2 "Taboo (1989)". BoardGameGeek . Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  2. "The New TNN Unveils Unspeakable Fun With New Game Show 'Taboo". PR Newswire. September 4, 2002. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  3. Hasbro Taboo Product Information
  4. Official Taboo Instructions
  5. "Bible Taboo". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  6. "Celebrity Taboo". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  7. "Introducing 'Tajew': Taboo, Jewish Edition". The Forward. 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  8. "{Brag Worthy Christmas} Taboo Buzz'd Game Review and Giveaway". www.thebraggingmommy.com. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  9. "Taboo Kids vs. Parents Family Board Game Instructions, Rules & Strategies - Hasbro". Hasbro Instructions. Retrieved 2023-06-12.