Electronic Taboo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Getting Ready to Play
• Taking Your Seats and Taking Your Turns
• Playing the Game
• Winning the Game

Getting Ready to Play

1. Buzzer Battery Insertion: Remove the battery cover by pressing back the clip with your thumb. Insert two "AA" size batteries, matching (+) and (-) signs. See Figure 1. Alkaline batteries are recommended for best performance. Slide the battery cover back and snap into place.

   Test the batteries by pressing the buzzer button. If the buzzer doesn't work, the batteries may be weak or improperly installed.

   CAUTION: To Avoid Battery Leakage

   • Be sure to insert the batteries correctly and always follow the game and battery manufacturers' instructions.
   • Do not mix old and new batteries or alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc) or rechargeable (nickel-cadmium) batteries.
   • Always remove weak or dead batteries from the product.

2. Place the buzzer and timer within easy reach of all players.

3. Fill the card holder with cards. Play with red side first. See Figure 2.

   Figure 2: The red side of the cards should be facedown. The blue side of the cards should be faceup but positioned as shown.

4. Divide the players into two teams (Team A and Team B). It doesn't matter if one team has one more player than the other.

Taking Your Seats and Taking Your Turns

See the picture for seating.

1. Team A (in white shirts) chooses one of their players to be their first Clue-giver, and that player sits facing the card holder with the timer close at hand.

2. Team B's players (in dark shirts) sit beside or behind Team A's Clue-giver so they can see the cards as the Clue-giver plays them. Team B controls the buzzer.

3. The Clue-giver's teammates are not allowed to see the cards and they should sit opposite their Clue-giver, waiting to shout out their answers.

4. After Team A's Clue-giver has completed a turn, a member of Team B is chosen to be the next Clue-giver for their team. Seats are exchanged so that the new Clue-giver's teammates cannot see the cards and the opposing team can see the cards. The buzzer is passed to Team A.

5. Teams take turns appointing Clue-givers and guessing words until all players have had one turn as Clue-giver. NOTE: If one team has one less player than the other, one player from that team is the Clue-giver twice.

Playing the Game

1. The Clue-giver draws a card from the card holder and places it on the easel, as shown in Figure 3. The word at the top of the card is the Guess word the Clue-giver is trying to get his or her teammates to say. The five words below the Guess word are the Taboo words the Clue-giver CANNOT say when giving clues for the Guess word.

   Figure 3: Red side of cards.

2. As soon as a card is drawn, the Clue-giver turns over the timer and starts giving clues that will make teammates say the Guess word. The clues may consist of detailed sentences, phrases or single word hints. See example at left. The clues CANNOT break any of the rules listed in Number 3: RULES FOR CLUES below.

   Example: When giving clues for the Guess word DELI, you could say, "It's a kind of restaurant... You'll find lots of lox there and bagels, too... You can get the best of the wursts here... It's a 'NEW' city in India..."

   Example card: Guess word "Deli"; Taboo words "Kosher", "Pastrami", "Sandwich", "Food", "Eat".

3. RULES FOR CLUES

   • No form or part of ANY word printed on the card may be given as a clue. Examples: If the Guess word is PAYMENT, "pay" cannot be given as a clue. If DRINK is a Taboo word, "drunk" cannot be given as a clue. If SPACESHIP is the Guess word, you can't use "space" or "ship" as a clue.
   • No gestures may be made. Examples: You can't form your hand in the shape of a gun as a clue for "shoot"; or point to your nose as a clue for "beak."
   • No sound effects or noises may be made, such as explosions or engine noises. However, feel free to break out into song.
   • You cannot say the Guess word "sounds like" or "rhymes with" another word.
   • No initials or abbreviations can be given if the words they represent are included on the card. Examples: MD cannot be used if MEDICAL or DOCTOR is the Guess word or a Taboo word. TV cannot be used if TELEVISION is the Guess word or a Taboo word.

Winning the Game

When all players have had one turn as Clue-giver (or both teams have had the same number of turns as Clue-giver), the points on the scorepad are totaled. The team with the most points wins the game.

In the case of a tie, each team chooses their best Clue-giver and takes one more turn to determine the winner.