Watch Choo Ear Nut Washer Tse (Mad Gab)

Member Name: angeelu

Product:	Mad Gab
Date:	03/01/03 (2271 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Makes a change from other similar style games like Pictionary, Suitable for wide age range

Disadvantages: May be difficult to get hold of if you don't have a wide range of games stockists in your town

It ain't what you say it's the way you say it...

Mad Gab is a board game with a difference. It's kind of like Dingbats in a way... but then again, it's nothing like it at all...

Mad Gab comes with a board like most board games do, and the object of the game is for one team to get from the start to the end first. However, to move around the board you don't use a dice - you need to hear a Mad Gab.

So what's a Mad Gab? The title of this opinion could be considered a Mad Gab. It's basically a bunch of words that look pretty meaningless when you read them, but say them out loud and you 'hear' something else.

Watch Choo Ear Nut Washer Tse => roughly translates to What You Hear Not What You Say.

The game has to be played in two teams, with at least two people in each team. Play starts with the team that has the youngest member in it. The team going first nominates a 'Reader', the other team (or teams) nominate a 'Stealer'. The reader then takes 3 Mad Gab cards from the box and allows a member of another team (but not the stealer) to see the answers. The timer is then turned over and the Reader speaks the words off the cards in an attempt to get their team mates to hear what they are saying. This is often easier said than done - not knowing what you are trying to say can hinder you in the way you pronounce the words, and often results in the other teams having a good chuckle at your expense! For each phrase the team gets right they score a point and can move their playing piece around the board that number of moves.
If there are any Mad Gab cards that have been read out by the Reader, but not guessed by the guessing team, the Stealers have an opportunity to say what they think the answers are - if they get them right they steal the appropriate amount of points and can move their playing pieces on too.

As you move around the board you may land on spaces wi
th certain things written on them such as 'Maximum Score 2' (the reader can only have 2 cards not 3) or 'Maximum Score 4'
(the reader can take 4 cards, offering the potential to move an extra space on the board) or 'To Everyone' (where all the teams can guess at once) etc.

It sounds kind of complicated from the description above, but it really isn't - it's very easy to get the hang of.

A couple of actual examples from the game of Mad Gab's are as follows:
William Harem He => Will You Marry Me
Up Hair Hush Ooze => A Pair Of Shoes

The cards provided are printed on both sides - one side coloured Green and the other Orange. The orange Mad Gab's are in general slightly more difficult than the green ones, therefore it's recommended that if you're new to the game you give the green ones a go first. The topics on the cards are completely random and range from famous people's names, to phrases, to proverbs, to random sentences.

The game is aimed at players 12 years and up, though if played in teams with at least one older person in then I personally think that anyone from approximately 10 years and up would enjoy the game.

The price is £19.99 which is kind of an average price for an adult board game. There are hours of fun to be had from this game, and it's the kind of game that you can easily play again even if you've previously been through all of the cards, as there are so many cards you are unlikely to remember all the Mad Gabs, and the fact that guessing them relies on the way the Reader says the words can mean that one person could say the words and you guess it immediately and another say it and you have no idea what they're on about.

The game is available from Toys R Us, but doesn't seem to be quite so available from certain other games stockists. Before Christmas whilst searching for this game a shop assistant in WHSmith advised t
here was no chance we would find it as it came out a couple of years ago and nowhere stocks it now, however the staff in Toys R Us were most helpful and completely contradicted WHSmiths by saying that although it has been out a couple of years there's no plans to discontinue it. If you do have trouble finding it however there are various stockists on the internet.

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