Taboo Is Fun

If you have never tried playing the guessing game of Taboo you should immediately visit the board game selves of your local toy-store and purchase a box that hides inside numerous moments of fun and true creative spirit. I was introduced to Taboo one evening at a friend's house and since then I have been playing this extremely entertaining game with family and friends in different occasions.

Taboo is a word guessing party game that is commercially produced and distributed by Hasbro. With a few hundred cards, which contain words on both sides, taboo can transform a boring evening into a exhilarating event. The rules of the game are rather simple, but it will manage to attract the attention of even the most reluctant people in your group. With an even number of players that usually range between four to ten people, Taboo is a pastime experience that ultimately everyone wants to try. The players sit in a circle and are divided usually into two competing teams. Each time a team's player picks up a card he or she has to describe the word that is written without using in his or her description any of its related words or the ones that appear underneath the one that the other team members have to guess correctly. The object of the game is for a team to guess correctly as many words as possible in the allotted time frame. In order to ensure that the player who attempts to describe the word is not using the "forbidden" words also appearing on the card, a designated member of the competing team has to sit besides the one describing so as to check constantly the card while hearing the description. For example, if the word on the top of the card was that of "game" the one describing could not say any word that begins or ends with the "game" element. Additionally, if under the word "game" appeared words like "sport," "baseball," "basketball," "taboo," or anything else inside that category, the person conducting the description cannot use any of these words either.

But the fun part begins when the rest of the team members try to guess the word that is being described. Yelling out as many guesses as possible, in a rational or irrational order, the participants enjoy a game that gives them the opportunity to rely on past common experiences and win as many cards as possible. Once the giver manages to describe the word for the others to guess it correctly, it is important to move quickly to the new one so as to give his or her team the chance of gaining one more card up until their allocated time is over. When time runs out, the one holding the cards gives his or her turn to the opponent that is going to begin describing the word that is picked up by chance to the other team's members. Every team playing receives one point for each correct guess, which corresponds to one card, and one penalty point if the "taboo" or "forbidden" word is mistakenly spoken. Of course, those that usually are game cheaters should reconsider their gaming theories, since an extra penalty point is given to someone who after describing a word on a card attempts to pass on more than that card to the team; if they have guessed it correctly.

Taboo is an entertainment in itself and its only weakness, at least in my opinion, is that it needs at least four people before you can begin having some "Taboo" fun!