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Taboo

No. of Players: 2+
Type of Game: spoken
What you need: nothing

Goal

To avoid saying a given word.

How to play

The gamemaster thinks of a taboo word which the other players will be forbidden to speak. The gamemaster then asks questions of the other players in turn, which must be answered without using the forbidden word. Players drop out when they inadvertently use this word. The last player left answering questions is the winner and becomes the gamemaster for the next round. Note that this game can be played with the gamemaster telling all the players the forbidden word at the beginning of the round, or not. If not, the gamemaster can choose to whisper the forbidden word to the losing players who use that word in an answer. Or simply wait until there is a winner to reveal it.

Alternatively, a taboo letter can be chosen by the gamemaster. Again, this can be told, or not told, to players at the beginning of the round. Any player who answers a question with a word that includes the forbidden letter must drop out. The last player left standing gets to choose the next taboo letter.

Example

Addie chooses home as the taboo word, but does not tell the other players what it is. She begins her questioning:

Addie: Where do most people go after work?
Billy: (thinking the taboo word must be obvious) They go back to their apartment or house.
Addie: In baseball, you have 1st, 2nd and 3rd base, and what else?
Carl: (smirking) All sorts of other things, like bats and balls, and uniforms and coaches, and...
Addie: Ok! On the scoreboard, the visiting team is called the 'Away' team. And the other?
Billy: (unable to think of a different way to express it) Um, the 'Home' team?
Addie: You're out. Carl, you get to choose the next taboo word.
Carl: Actually, I'm choosing a taboo letter. The letter E. Addie, what do 365 days add up to?

And so on.

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