Editorial Review

It sounds so simple: get your team to name common words withoutvoicing a few choice descriptors. But could you describe a wristwatchwithout mentioning time, wrist, or clock? Taboo rewards those whothink--and speak--fast. The team that correctly identifies as manywords as possible in a minute (measured with an hourglass timer) wins.If a member of the opposing team, armed with the blaring buzzer,catches the clue giver using any of the taboo words, a point is deducted from the group's score. It's a good idea to separate peoplewho know each other well, because their familiarity can be too great anadvantage. If the clue is spinach, prompting with "Mom made this everyMonday" just doesn't seem fair, though it is permissible according tothe rules. Playing Taboo requires an AA battery and a sense ofhumor--you'll need them both! The timer is included. Taboo is for fouror more players. --Leah Ball ... Read more

Reviews (82)

What's more fun than TABOO?!!
I just bought this game recently and couldn't stop playing it from the minute I started!

Let me tell you about Taboo: 1. It kills time! 2. Sooooooooooooo much FUN... that sometimes you lose time laughing instead of helping your team :-) 3. It gets those small minded people very annoyed, mad and angry when they lose or fail... which I enjoy :-) 4. You lose control... 5. Very challenging if played between good teams. 6. Once you start you can never stop playing it.

To me this game beats Pictionary, Charades and many others...

A lot of laughs!
I was totally hooked after the first time I played this game. It really makes you think on your feet as you try to get your teammates to guess the highlighted word on your card without saying the other printed "taboo" words. After a few turns, I caught on to the idea of describing the actual word or putting it in a reference that my teammates would understand. It was hysterical hooking up with close friends or family who could figure out what I was trying to get at with odd clues that no one else quite understood. I told my Mother about this game and she was excited to learn and we bought it for a party. Some of the guests were apprehensive about playing at first, but after watching the rest of us, they all wanted to join in. This is a great game to play with 4 or more people with guaranteed laughs. As far as the buzzer goes... it is a bit annoying, but the guys especially enjoyed using it when time ran out or a taboo word was said. I think it added to the laughs and the fun of the game. After playing a few times, you become accustomed to the particular word set, so I recommend the booster sets as well as the newer edition of the game. PLEASE BUY THIS. I GUARANTEE YOU WILL HAVE FUN!

puts the T in Terrific!
Taboo is a terrific game! its kind of like charades but instead of acting the words out, you have to describe them without using any of the words on the card. This is a great game because its really fun and I can play it with both, my family and my friends since it appeals to all age groups. We can play it for hours without getting bored of it! I would recommend this game to anyone!

This brought our family together
I was at a family event last week and we were all trying to figure out what to do. The suggestion for a movie came up. One of my cousins fought the idea saying he didn't come all the way to visit so we could all sit together in the dark to watch a film. So we went to Walmart and bought some games. Taboo, Cranium, and Pictionary. Well, we had such a great time together. We really laughed and bonded. That weekend as we rode around one cousin pulled out a singing lesson Cd and played it in the car, Voice Lessons To Go by Vaccarino, so we all sang together in our car like crazies- again having the best time. The rest of the weekend, we played more games and never thought about turning on the TV or watching a film. My niece even played the piano for us one night and we sang songs from a song book. These games really help bring back the communication our generation has lost.

Kinda fun, but gets old after a half-hour
This game is good fun for a little while. After a half hour we got bored and moved on to card games. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Scattergories is a fast-paced word game that's a real crowd pleaser. Each player takes a categorylist with 12 categories--such as vegetable, state, president, things you throw away--and must write down thename of one item that fits into each category. Sounds easy enough, but each item has to begin with aspecific letter that is determined when the 20-sided die is rolled. For instance, you roll the letter "R." Youranswer list for the above categories might look something like this: rutabaga, Rhode Island, Roosevelt,rubbish, etc. You have to think fast, because a round lasts only 3 minutes! Players score points for eachunique answer. --Alison Golder ... Read more

Reviews (54)

Years of fun!
We have had this game for probably 10 years and we still love it. It is so much fun to play because the answers are unlimited and the game is different every time depending on what letters that you get. We have almost run out of the blank sheets in some of the little boards but a blank sheet of paper works fine too. We have played this with people of all ages and it is a blast. It is easy so almost everyone gets right into it! Definitely a must for your game closet!

Party Game!!
This is our game of choice when my family gets together with our best friends. This game is especially hillarious when you make up words and try to convince the other players to let you have the point for it. For instance, one time the letter was "W" and one of the subjects on the list was "something sticky", I wrote down "Wolf's Mouth". We all about died laughing. Now, even to this day, all I have to say is "Wolf's mouth", and we all crack up. You could play this game for hours and before you know it, it's the end of the night. There is no game that is more fun then this.

Great for many types of people.
I got this for Christmas and me and my sisters (cometimes our parents join in) always play this. It never gets old!! Even if we repeat a list, we come up with new answers. I disagree with the label "12 and up" because my sisters are 10 and 11 (9 and 10 when we started playing it) and they can do it with no problem. Granted I get more than them, since I'm 15, but they still do great.

Anyway, to play Scattegories, first you choose a letter and a list. Say the letter was "G" and the list included "boy names". Well, if I put Gregory, and so did one of my sisters, neither of us would get the point. If someone repeats your answer, you don't get any points. However, say I put "Gavin", Jordan put "Gregory" and Taryn put "Guy", then we'd all get the point. You have to make sure to think outside of the box (don't put the most popular band as an answer, or the city you live in!).

Good party game
This game is a fun game to play with family or friends. It combines strategy, vocabulary, and personality. There are lists of categories such as girl's name, sport, etc. You roll the unusually shaped letter die and the two minute timer ticks down. You and your opponents then scramble to come up with words that begin with the letter on the die and match the category. You have to work quickly but strategy comes into play. Each word gives you one point, but you don't want a common answer because if two or more players guess the same answer, neither gets a point(For a fruit starting with A apple may be too obvious, but apricot is more likely to win you a point). But if you reach too much on an answer, a slightly biased jury of your peers decides on the answer's acceptabilty. The revealing of the answers is often the best part as the hilarious and far fetched answers hurriedly sketched down are revealed to your opponents. The game can be played many times, and the only downside is the limited amount of category cards. After a few plays through the game you recognize familiar categories, so this game is better when played a few times a year, so the categories seem unfamiliar. It is a good game and even has some educational value in strenghthening vocabulary.

Fun with Family and Friends
I first played Scattergories with my boss and co-workers. My boss' family always liked to play games after a quick Saturday Night dinner and this game was the favorite by far. Not as difficult and drawn out as Trivial Pursuit or as quick as Balderdash, it is fun to come up with as many words or items based on the letters you have. One of my favorites for the letter "J" was always Juicy-Juice. Interestingly some will get upset at you if you are too good so be humble when you play with apparent novices to this game.

The best way to play is couples or teams of two if you have more than 6 people. It can be fun to play in a team environment because you will come up with more ideas.

This is a fun, fast paced and exciting game that will have you laugh and even say, "hmmmmm, I never thought of that.."

Get Scattergories for the whole family. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Can you draw a cat? How about sketching something that conveys the word area or The English Patient? Can you do it in less than 60 seconds while your team yells the wrong answers at you and the other team is close to getting it right? Welcome to the game of Pictionary, in which players attempt to guess words from sketches made by other members of their team. The words can be objects, people, actions, places, animals, or the dreaded "difficult," although in the heat of an exciting game, even house can be difficult. Word cards are randomly selected, the timer is activated, and players begin scribbling franticly as they race to beat the clock. Correct answers are rewarded with a toss of the die and progression around the board toward victory. Pictionary veterans should note that this is an updated edition of the game, including more than 1,000 new words to challenge even the most experienced quick-draw artist. Pencils, sketchpads, and a 60-second timer are included. Pictionary is for four or more players. --Simon Leake ... Read more

Reviews (29)

Always E N T E R T A I N I N G!
There are many entertaining Board Games, but by time the fun gets lost but not with Pictionary! What makes Pictionary so much fun no matter how much you play it are:

1. Each player has his/her own imagination. So no matter how often you play the game, each player might draw or guess differently the same card!

2. It's fun for parents to enjoy it with their teens.

3. It's fun for friends to play it together.

4. It's fun when men play against their wives (oh I love this one)!

Do you know it's very difficult to draw simple objects? Just try drawing anything and see what others guess it. Oh sometime they go very far that even if you wanted them to guess that word they'd have not :-)

One of the best games that are as good as this one (if not better) is Taboo! Have fun...

This game brought our family together!
I was at a family event last week and we were all trying to figure out what to do. The suggestion for a movie came up. One of my cousins fought the idea saying he didn't come all the way to visit so we could all sit together in the dark to watch a film. So we went to Walmart and bought some games. Taboo, Cranium, and Pictionary. Well, we had such a great time together. We really laughed and bonded. That weekend as we rode around one cousin pulled out a singing lesson Cd and played it in the car, Voice Lessons To Go by Vaccarino, so we all sang together in our car like crazies- again having the best time. The rest of the weekend, we played more games and never thought about turning on the TV or watching a film. My niece even played the piano for us one night and we sang songs from a song book. These games really help bring back the communication our generation has lost.

All age-groups and use dry erase boards
Pictionary is a great game that anyone can play. You can play with your entire family and people from different age-groups. Kids can play as long as they are told what the words mean, and even people who do not speak English so well can enjoy this game. It is a great ice-breaker for anyone. I pull it out for parties without worrying about who will fit in or who will feel left out.

Our family has been playing this game with dry erase boards for a while now. Not only does it save on paper, it is so much more fun. There are new strategies in eraseing pictures and using multiple colors. It really changed our game nights with these boards. My husband just purchased whiteboards at, eraseboards.com(?), I think. Pretty affordable. Every Pictionary owner should try using dry erase.

Very fun game, espically for artists
Being pretty good with a pencil, I really love this game. The problem, however, became apparent after I'd played through the cards a few times, that being that I could win without challege against players that hadn't played before or were fairly new.

However, this game can be played in a large group, thus evening out the odds and it also makes a great and funny party game.

I give this one a strong recommendation, it's a lot of fun and challenging too.

Fun, but containing bad memories!!!
...>Well, maybe not that serious, but this game if used inappropriately can cause damage and break homes. This game is challenging, especially if you haven't tried to draw a person hang-gliding in a while, or a squirrel or a door, for that matter.
You simply move around the board and try to get your team to guess what you've been drawing, but it's not quite that simple.
Have a good time with this game, Cheers. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Speed, not artistry, is the key to Pictionary Junior, a party game that stole the show from Charades in the '80s. The kids' version, which has been updated with hundreds of new words to draw, has hints and two levels of play. There are 144 two-sided cards. The red side is more challenging, and the blue side is easier--for younger players. Both include a theme to be read aloud and start everyone thinking on track. Teams go head-to-head to guess the word their "picturist" draws within 60 seconds. How fast can you draw an apple pie, an eyebrow, or a coin? It takes a quick hand and good guesswork to move around the game board from start to finish before the other team. A timer and easy-to-read instructions are included. --Lynne Sampson ... Read more

Reviews (5)

.....
The only setback to this game is if the people you are playing it with really stink at drawing. If that's so, then you're at a disadvantage and pretty much sunk. But it's fun to play anyway!

tons of fun
As a family game, we have tons of fun.
The kids really get into it. They have to use
their imagination. The whole family loves it.

It's Iffy
Pictionary Jr. isn't as fun as the older version. I've played this game so many times that I know off by heart what the cards have on them. I think they should make more cards for it. It is a kinda fun game. I rated it 5stars for educational because littler kids can either play the game while trying to sound the words out or they can just take the cards out of the game and try to sound them out without playing it. I rated i 3 stars for durability because if you drop the game while it's in or out of the box the cards will scatter all over the place.

Family fun
We play this as a family on family game night. My five year old daughter is as good and has as much fun as anyone, but we have to read her some of the words.

plenty fun
My little niece has this so I've played it and it can be just as fun as the older version. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Guesstures turns up the heat on the tired game of charades with a few modernizations. Good, quick pantomiming is still the thing, but now teams need to act out and guess four words in a matter of seconds. The "mimer-timer," designed like a movie scene board, controls everything. The actor draws four word cards and places them from easiest to hardest in the timer unit for each scene. After the arm swings down for "Action," time is rapidly eaten away and so are cards as the performer gestures wildly like a silent movie actor. When the cast guesses the word, the actor grabs the card before the "mimer-timer" does. Whew! It's a lot to think about. Each word is rated based on difficulty, so whatever cards the team correctly guesses and the actor manages to seize are tallied up and recorded. --Lynne Sampson ... Read more

Reviews (41)

Easy, Fun, and Duplicate
This is simply charades with rules, which is both good and bad. There are two sets of word / phrase cards, one with more difficult words / phrases that are worth more. Every card has two words / phrases, one more difficult and rewarding. They're placed in a thing that makes the cards fall one by one. You have to get your team to guess what you're acting and quickly grab the card. I think it's better without keeping score. This is a pretty good party game. I recommend it for any group of 3 or more friends or family members, especially one that can't come up with any charades things to act.

I love this game !!
I just played this game yesterday at my Thanksgiving dinner,and everyone was kind of off in different groups until we started playing the game and we had so much fun !

Fun in a large group
This is one of those games that's great in a large group and only fun the first few times you play.
I give it a recommendation, because at the right time and place it's a perfect game, but do point out that it's not a classic any time any place game, and it's definately not one that two or three can play by themselves.

Good Game
This is a great game if you like charades. There are simple words that you have to act out before the timer runs out. The game is excting, very fast paced and keeps you attentive. Very nice additon to a game night.

kind of....
this games was really bad, my guest did not like it and you need 18 people for it to be fun.... ... Read more

Editorial Review

Show your steady hands and elementary structural knowledge in abattle against gravity when you play Jenga, a game of luck andprecision. First, assemble the 54 rectangular, hardwood blocks--smoothand shaped just right for stacking--into a three-piece-wide, 18-storytower. Then take turns removing the three-inch blocks one at time,using caution to keep the structure intact while stacking the removedpieces back on the top of the tower. As the tower rises, its basebegins to teeter--one wrong move and it collapses in a heap! Gameover.

Jenga allows adults to play architect and children to perfecttheir stacking skills and hand-eye coordination. There is no limit onthe number of participants--it can even be played solo. Butbeware: Jenga can be addictive. The instructions declare a 36-storystructure to be the mark of a real pro. How tall can you go? --CateBick ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Don't make the blocks fall
Jenga has always been one of my favorite games to play since I was a kid. You have to construct a vertical tower using 54 wooden blocks by putting 3 on each row. Then that's when the fun begins. Everybody who's playing has to take turns taking away one of the wooden blocks from anywhere on the structure, and then putting that block that has been removed at the top of the tower. Whoever makes the building fall is the loser.

Jenga can be a lot of fun for anybody of any age. It's one of the funnest games out there and if you're bored it's really great, you'll never get tired of playing Jenga. I recommend anybody to get this game.

Fun for Groups & Families
Not only is this toy extremely durable (how can you really break those small blocks of wood?), it's incredibly flexible as a toy. My brother at twelve (and I at 21) played this game for hours. When I went back to my computer/book/sleep, he'd stay occupied with the game -- playing it alone, stacking and re-stacking the blocks, creating houses and encampments as if the pieces were designed as building blocks.

As an adult, I don't enjoy card games or board games much, but I still appreciate having this game around the house. It's a game you can play with just about anyone, and although it does take some concentration when you're the one pulling out that precarious block, you can still converse and cavort while playing (as long as you've got the game on a stable surface!).

Jenga also helps teach hand-eye coordination, precision, patience, forethought ("what will happen if I pull out this block?"), and just a bit of physics -- some of the blocks are rougher, some are smoother, so friction comes into play.

I highly recommend this game to everyone, regardless of age!

Jenga
Jenga is so much fun! I just love removing and restacking the pieces. As it gets higher, the intensity also gets high. My cousin and I don't just use Jenga as a stacking game, we use it to play dominoes. Although Jenga is not an educational game, it is still the best stacking game for players of all ages. The wood pieces are very durable, clunking them to the ground won't snap or break them. Throwing the wood pieces against the wall also won't break them. Jenga is a durable and fun stacking game.

wow!
i have to say...this game is great! i am 13 years old and at my birthday party there was nothing to do! i pulled out jenga and everyone was having a BLAST within 5 minutes. i was so worried that everyone would hate my party but it turned out that it was all that my friends talked about the next week at school. i wanted to just say thank you so much for advertising this game because there was nothing, and i mean NOTHING to do at my party but when i took out jenga...that all changed! thank you so much again!

-shaunna, California

The Cheapo Version of Jenga
Wood blocks for the Milton Bradley jenga are not finely finished like I have seen from other manufacturers. Jenga blocks traditionally come in a wooden box that acts as a holder for assembling the blocks. Milton Bradley's loading platform is made of thin cardboard. This low quality detracts from normally fine experience of playing jenga. ... Read more