Catch Phrase (game) Totally Explained

Everything about Catch Phrase Game totally explained

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

Game components

Initially, the game consisted of a timer and a plastic disc that displayed one word at a time. Later, stand-alone electronic devices with built-in random lists of words were made available.

Game play

The game is played in two teams. The goal for each player is to get their team to say the word displayed in the disc. 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 (for example, "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 disc when time runs out scores a point. They also have one turn to guess the word that the other team didn't guess. A correct answer earns a bonus point. The first team to seven points wins.

Original version

The older version of the game contains discs with 72 words on each side. The word list is advanced by pressing a button on the right side of the disc apparatus. A timer beeps at an increasing rate before randomly buzzing, signaling the end of turn. A scoring sheet is provided.

Electronic version

The modern version, also known as Electronic Catch Phrase, is an electronic game (in a device similar in appearance 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.
A second edition of the electronic game features a backlit LCD screen, a visual score display rather than the auditory score system, and a redesigned appearance.

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

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.
The game is similar to Taboo, also from Hasbro, in which a player tries to get his or her teammates to guess words without using the word in question or five related words.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Catch Phrase Game'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://catch_phrase__game.totallyexplained.com">Catch Phrase (game) Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.