Taboo

Gameplay

Taboo is a word game in which players have to get their teammates to guess a certain word listed on a card without using the word itself or any of the additional, related words also listed on the card.

The game comes with a bunch of cards, an easel-like card holder, a buzzer, and an hourglass timer. You need at least four people to play, but you can play with up to 10. First, you must divide into two teams, Team A and Team B. It doesn’t really matter how many people are on each team, as long as there’s at least two people on each team. To begin, Team A chooses one of their players to be the Clue-giver, and the other(s) are the guessers. The Clue-giver and guessers must sit across from one another, so that the guessers can’t see the words on the card. One person from Team B must sit next to or behind the Clue-giver, so they can be sure the Clue-giver doesn’t say any of the forbidden words.

The round starts when the timer is flipped over. The Clue-giver must get the guessers to say the colored word at the top of their card (one side of the card is blue and the other is red. Play the red side first!) without saying any of the “taboo” words listed below it. For example. If the word is “Blizzard,” the Clue-giver must get the guessers to say “Blizzard” without saying the “taboo” words “snowstorm,” “winter,” “white,” “wind,” or “cold.” Gestures and sound effects are not allowed, and neither is saying “sounds like” or “rhymes with.” If the Clue-giver does any of these prohibited things, the player on Team B that has a view of the card sounds the buzzer and the Clue-giver must discard that card.

This is a point-based game. If you shout out the correct word, you get a point, and the Clue-giver moves on to the next card. You want to get through as many cards as you can before the timer runs out. You also have the option to pass on a card, however you lose a point by doing so. You also lose a point if you are buzzed. All lost points are awarded to the opposite team. Whenever you choose to stop playing, the team with the most points wins!

History

Taboo was published by Parker Brothers in 1989, which was eventually purchased by Hasbro. The game was designed by Brian Hersch. Brian is General Partner at Hersch & Co. and has created numerous social interactive games, including Outburst, Scrutineyes, Out of Context, SongBurst, and many more. He’s worked with many companies over the years, inclyding Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Mattel, and Western Publishing.

Brian found his way into the toy and game industry because he was an excellent Trivial Pursuit player. In fact, he was so good, that a friend suggested he invent his own game, so he had a market research report done about party games and Trivial Pursuit. The results showed him that there was a space to fill in the toy and game industry, so why not be the one to fill it?

Variations

Many variations were released with the same rules just different cards or buzzer accessories. Those variations were released in 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2002, and 2003. There’s also the 1999 10^th anniversary edition, Bible Taboo, Celebrity Taboo, Platinum edition electronic Taboo, Taboo Jewish Edition, Taboo Junior, Taboo for Kids, The Big Taboo, Taboo Body Language, Taboo Quick Draw, and Taboo Singaporean Version. Taboo was also made into a game show on TNN in 2003, hosted by Chris Wylde.

Reception & Awards

Taboo won the 1990 Mensa Select Award. In 1992, it was on the Spiel des Jahres Recommended list, and in 2001, it was on the Spiel der Spiele Hit fur Viele Recommended list.