Taboo is a very popular card game, released by Hasbro in 1989. The goal is to make your teammates guess the word you are trying to describe, but without naming the forbidden terms. Divide the participants into two equal teams, prepare the cards and the timer. During the game you should try to give creative clues, check that the opponents do not say the taboo words and pass when you really do not know how to make a card guess. All guessed cards award a point to your team, while all those skipped or where you said a taboo word give your opponents a point.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Starting the Game
Step 1. Divide the group into two teams
Do what you can to make them balanced, in terms of number of members and abilities. Pair beginners to experienced players and youngsters to older ones.
- You can organize male vs female matches or split teams in other simple ways. One team can consist of all people born from January to June and the other from those born from July to December.
- If you are odd, one of the members of the team with more players can either skip the round in rotation, or one player will have to give the clues twice.
- If couples or relatives also participate in the game, you can separate them into different teams, so that they do not have an advantage over other players.
Step 2. Put the cards in the card holder
Before each turn, fill the binder with cards, so the player who has to give the clues can draw them quickly. He will not have to draw from the deck unless he runs out of cards at his disposal.
- This is a suggestion rather than a rule, because it facilitates the playing of the game, but it is not mandatory. You can also decide to draw cards directly from the deck.
- You can only play Taboo with cards. The game proceeds in the same way. You can even make your own special cards complete with guess words and taboo terms.
Step 3. Draw one card at a time
You cannot peek at the other cards in the deck, you only have to look at the one you have to try to make your teammates guess. If you notice that one of the players breaks this rule, you must report him, because he is cheating.
Make sure that every time you draw a card, none of your teammates can see it. If this happens you must discard it, but without assigning a point to the opponents
Step 4. Start the timer
All players have a time limit to try to make their teammates guess as many words as possible. On each turn it is a good idea to give one player control of the timer. You can also use one that sounds an alarm when time runs out.
- You can use the phone timer, which will sound an alarm when the time runs out. Rounds should last 1-2 minutes. You can lengthen or shorten the turn length to vary the game.
- The card you have in your hand when the time expires does not award points and must be discarded, so do not give it to the player after you.
Part 2 of 3: Playing the Rounds
Step 1. Give your teammates clues about the word to guess
If they have to guess "book", you can say "something you use to study in school" and "a large collection of words with a main plot". If your teammates guess right, your team gets a point. You cannot use any part of the guess term or taboo words.
- If you find a word you don't know or if your teammates can't guess one, you can skip the card. However, in this case the point is awarded to the opposing team.
- If the word to guess is cookbook, you can't use the words "book" or "recipe" in any of your clues.
- Your teammates have to guess the exact word, so if they only get close or understand part of the word, you have to continue with the clues until they give the correct answer.
Step 2. Avoid taboo words
All the cards show some of the words that are easier to relate to the term to guess; they are considered taboo words and consequently you are forbidden to use them. For "book", taboo words can be "pages", "read", "story", "cover" and "text". You will lose a point if you use a taboo word, so you have to be very careful.
You can't say even part of the word taboo, so if one of the terms is "automobile", you can't say "car"
Step 3. One of your opponents has to check that you don't use any taboo words
In each round, a player on the team who does not try to guess must ensure that no taboo words are used. You all play this role in turn.
When you hear a clue that contains a taboo word, you have to press the red button. The card will be discarded and put together with those skipped
Step 4. Separate the cards into two decks after each round
One pile is for cards that are correctly guessed, the other is for cards that are skipped or where the player accidentally said a taboo word.
Make sure everyone knows what the piles are. It is important that the two piles remain separate so that the score can be calculated accurately
Step 5. Score points at the end of the round
The team of the player who gave the clues scores one point for all the cards they guessed right. Opponents receive one point for each card in the discard pile, which includes those skipped and those in which a taboo word was spoken.
- You can decide to play until a team reaches a certain number of points or for a specific number of rounds, depending on your preference.
- When time runs out, make sure you don't award points for that card. It simply has to be discarded until the end of the game.
- Take all the cards used in the turn and set them aside. Do not use them again until the entire deck has been used. At that point, if the game is still in progress, you can shuffle the deck and start using the cards again.
Part 3 of 3: Gaining an advantage over your opponents
Step 1. Give the clues quickly but carefully
One of the funniest aspects of Taboo is the frantic attempt to give clues, so don't be afraid to communicate as much information as possible in a short time. At the same time, you need to be careful to avoid saying the taboo words.
- Before you start giving advice, read the guess word and the taboo ones. Remember the terms you need to avoid.
- If after a few moments you find that you have given the wrong advice and confused your peers, explain that they may ignore it.
Step 2. Use synonyms and antonyms
You can direct your classmates towards the correct answer by making them think of words similar to the one to guess. Remember, you can't say "rhymes with" or "looks like", so don't use them as clues.
- For example, if the word to guess is "painting", you can describe it as "picture hanging on the wall" or "painting".
- If the guess word is "sad", you can say "not happy" or "happy".
Step 3. Describe the various meanings the word can have
Many guessing terms don't have a single meaning and it doesn't matter which one you decide to describe. Consequently, using all the meanings of a word can help your teammates understand what they have in common.
- If you have "peach" as the word, you can have your companions guess it by describing the fruit or the catch of fish.
- If the word is "rabbit", you can describe it as a companion animal and as a term for a coward. You can take the example of two cars driving towards each other until one of them swerves.
Step 4. Pass the words that take too long
In some cases there will be terms that your teammates cannot understand. Even if you lose a point when you discard a card, you can move on to easier ones and get more points for your team. If possible, it is worth losing 1 point to gain 3.
- In a 1 minute round it is quite common to get 6 points, so don't waste more than about 15 seconds on a word. At that point, it's probably no longer worth trying to describe it.
- However, don't overdo it, because by passing too many cards you will end up getting fewer points than your opponents. Discard a card only when absolutely necessary to win.
