Hasbro gave us game players a treat when they put 'Taboo' into the board game market back in the late nineteen nineties. My version is from 1996 and all the parts are still as good as new. It's a word guessing game so all you fun loving word lovers out there will be happy to own this.

'Taboo' is perfect for enlivening social gatherings. Four to ten people can get involved with this game from the age of twelve years and up. I've played with ten year olds but their literary skills are high so bear this in mind when considering whether the game is suitable. I've also played this good, uncomplicated, fun, game with all adult groups and nobody has complained yet!

Game Play:

Divide into two teams. The elected person from each team takes a card and then, under the pressure of one minute egg timer, must describe the word on the card. The pressure increases because there is a list of five extra words on the card that are not allowed to be used when describing the featured word.

My example word, for you, is 'Orange'. The taboo words might be 'citrus' 'fruit' 'round' 'pips' and 'juicy'. Oh, Hasbro make it very difficult. You need good vocabulary skills to win the point for your team. You cannot break the word down into parts but strangely you are allowed to sing words but not hum. No abbreviations are permitted. The rest of the team must guess the featured word based on the limited verbal description and you can bet your last penny that the taboo words on the card are the very words you would want to use in the description. People who have studied the English dictionary and thesaurus will be at a distinct advantage. No clues, by using rhyming words are allowed. And no you absolutely cannot mime!

Be forewarned, this is one very noisy game. The person describing could well be cursing at the limitations of allowable descriptive vocabulary; the other people will all be calling out words, each person trying to shout louder over the others, in order to be heard and to beat the egg timer. The player who must describe can cost their team points if they let slip one of the taboo words or mime an action (easily done without conscious effort). The opposing team will be listening and watching carefully and checking all the time. The room explodes with noise when they notice the vocalisation or gesture of a forbidden word. They shout, bang tables and stamp feet and that motley crew of censors, from the opposing team, will be squeezing the provided rubber, rather like a dog's toy, and blasting out the notice of your failure! Penalties and rewards will feature in this game and if you want to you can always fix up your own system.

In the allotted time the describing person can quickly move on to another card but only if the team have finally called out the correct word. The hope is that your team will guess promptly so that you can win them more points by going through lots of cards. When time runs out the other team come into play. This game could be a great English teaching aid.

I paid approximately £15 and feel 'Taboo' is worth every penny.