TABOO

Bibliographic Information:

Publisher: Hasbro

Publication Date: 1989

Genre: Party Game

Summary: Taboo is a party game that is focused around word guessing. The equipment involved in this game consist of: an hour glass (for recording time), a buzzer (to be pressed if you say the designated synonyms on your selected card), and cards that describe what you are trying to describe/act out on the top, and below there are additional words/synonyms listed that you aren’t allowed to say. If you say the synonyms while trying to describe your designated word, then the buzzer is hit and your time is immediately cut short. Also, someone from the opposite team has to kind of look over the persons (who is playing) shoulder to make sure that they aren’t saying the additional words/synonyms.

Critical Evaluation: Sometimes Taboo can seem like a game of charades mixed with being a thesaurus. Unfortunately, this isn’t something that you can play by yourself, or even with just two people. The main drawback is that you need a lot of people to play this particular game or at the very least enough people to make a full team. However this would be a fun ideal game if you were having a party or a lot of guests over and needed something to do.

Creator Information: Hasbro is an entertainment and play company that is known global wide for creating the “world’s best play experiences”. This company has so much to offer including digital gaming, movies, television, toys and consumer products.  Some of their iconic brands include: Transformers, My Little Pony, Monopoly, Play Doh, Magic, and Baby Alive. Hasbro is on several social platforms including: instagram, twitter, and has its own website.

The overall objective of this company is to make the world a better place for not only children but their families as well by incorporating philanthropy and social responsibility. Due to Hasbro’ s success, this company has won the title of One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. In addition to this title, they ranked number five out of 2018’s one hundred Best Corporate Citizen’s List. They are so popular that it is almost impossible to believe that not everyone has encountered their games at some point in time.

https://hasbro.gcs-web.com/corporate

 Genre- Party Game

 Curriculum Ties– N/A

Book Talk Ideas- N/A

Interest Age– 10 and up

 Challenge Issues & Defense Preparation

Challenge Issue: Too DifFicult

Product Reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-C1938-Taboo-Game/product-reviews/B01NH4ZWUV/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews

Taboo Working Memory and Mental Control in an Interactive Task: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241377/

Brain Games Cognitive Action: http://www.cognitiveaction.com/brain-games/

Why Included: This is a game that I play at pretty much any family party. While it isn’t my favorite game to play, I love to watch other people play it. This is a great team building game that will guarantee to bring everyone together. Also it is highly entertaining, until of course it is your turn to be up. I could see teens having fun with this game especially with their little teen slang that seems to add more words every week.