Catch Phrase (game)

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Catch Phrase

Players	4 or more
Age range	12 and up
Setup time	< 1 minute
Playing time	10 min to 15 min
Random chance	Medium
Skills required	Team play

Catch Phrase is a word guessing party game commercially available from Hasbro.

1 Game components
2 Game play
3 Original version
4 Electronic version
5 Word list
6 Variations
7 External links

[edit] Game components

The game consists of a plastic disk which displays a word, and a timer.

[edit] Game play

The game is played in two teams. The goal is to get your team to say the word displayed in the disk. One member of a team starts the timer and tries to get his or her team to guess the displayed word. A clue-giver can make any physical gesture and give almost any verbal clue. However, one may not say a word that rhymes with the word, give the first letter of the word, say the number of syllables, or say part of the word in the clue (e.g. "worry" for "worry wart"). When the team guesses correctly, the other team takes its turn. Play continues until the timer runs out. The team not holding the disk when time runs out scores a point. They also have one turn to guess the word that the other team did not guess. A correct answer earns a bonus point. The first team to seven points wins.

[edit] Original version

The older version of the game contains disks with 72 words on each side. The word list is advanced by pressing a button on the right side of the disk. A timer (which beeps at an increasing rate before it buzzes at a random time) is provided, and a score board.

[edit] Electronic version

The modern version, also known as Electronic Catch Phrase is an electronic game (in a disk similar to the original version) with integrated word list, timer and scoring. The game unit has a dot-matrix LCD screen to display words, and buttons to start the timer, advance play, and assign points to teams.

Recently a second edition of the electronic game was released, featuring backlighting for the LCD screen, a permanent score display, rather than the auditory score system, and a redesigned look to the game.

[edit] Word list

The electronic version's word list contains 10,000 words, which are categorized:

Everything - all 10,000 words in the game
Tech/Inventions - Anything that has been invented through the ages, from ancient history to modern times
History Buff - History, politics, wars, civics, and things in the present that will become history
Entertainment - Movies, music, books, actors, singers, authors, as well as fun activities
Sports/Games - Sports and games of all sorts, leisure activities
Geography - Places, both geographically and answers to the question "where?"; Also things that are usually found in a particular place or region
Transportation - Methods of transport, as well as things seen while travelling
Around the House - Household items
Food/Drink - Foods and drinks, cooking terms, ingredients, restaurants, other food items
Plants/Animals - Plants, animals, items made from plants or animals
Family - A subset of the words appropriate for children, no adult themes or terms

[edit] Variations

Advanced players and teams tend to forgo the game board. Instead, one person is assigned as the score keeper and tallies the points along the way. Longer games are possible.

Milwaukee Rules - Expert players have also developed a variation where the enclosed disk and clues are dismissed as well. In "Milwaukee Rules" players write their own clues. Every player takes 5 to 15 minutes to write as many clues as possible before the game begins. The clues are placed in a hat or bowl. The game proceeds normally and ends when all of the clues are exhausted. During the point stealing portion of each round, the author of the clue may not help his or her team guess.