''Balderdash'' is a

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

variant of a classic

parlour game A parlour or parlor game is a group game played indoors, named so as they were often played in a parlour. These games were extremely popular among the upper and middle classes in the United Kingdom and in the United States during the Victorian er ...

known as Fictionary or the Dictionary Game. It was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada. The game was first released in 1984 by the Canada Games Company. A US edition appeared that year from

TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...

, copyrighted to Gameworks Creations, Inc. and licensed from Canada Games. Subsequent editions have appeared from a variety of companies including The Games Gang,

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

and

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

. The game has sold over 15 million copies worldwide to date. It is aimed at fans of word games, such as ''

Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...

''.

Origin

''Balderdash'' is based on an earlier game, '' Fictionary'', of essentially similar gameplay, varying in that obscure words are found in an unabridged dictionary instead of the definitions and meanings provided on cards. They are then read out to the unsuspecting individual. The board game version was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of

, Ontario, Canada.

Gameplay

The game presents rare and unusual words, and players secretly submit definitions for them, hoping that other players will believe their definition is the real one. It is therefore advantageous to have an excellent vocabulary and the ability to deceive. The game begins by all players rolling a die, with the high roll chosen to be the first "dasher". The dasher draws a "definition card" from the supplied box, and rolls the dice to decide which of the words listed there is to be used. Then the dasher writes the definition of the word (as supplied on the card) on a piece of paper. All other players then write down a definition, which may be an honest attempt to supply the correct definition, or, if they do not know or for tactical reasons decide not to, a fictitious definition for the word designed to sound convincing. The players hand their definitions to the dasher. Players submitting the correct definition are immediately awarded three points, and, if there is more than one, the round is abandoned (though the points are retained). The definitions, including the real definition, are then read out in random order. Players record which answer they believe is correct. Players are awarded two points if they guess the correct definition. Players are awarded one point for each other player who incorrectly chooses the fake definition they wrote. The dasher is awarded three points if no one guesses the correct definition. Players move their tokens around the game board one square for each point awarded. The role of dasher then passes to another player. The winner is the individual whose token reaches the end square first.

Variants

There are many different variations of ways to break ties (when two or more players hit the end at the same time). One way to resolve a tie is to say all of the players that crossed the finish line won. Another way is to have a sudden death, tie-breaker round where whoever gets more points on the tiebreaker round wins. In 1993, ''Beyond Balderdash'' was released. In addition to more up-to-date words, ''Beyond Balderdash'' offers obscure acronyms, dates, names, and movie titles, for which the players have to provide full names, major events, major accomplishments, and plot summaries, respectively. The die is used for choosing which category will be chosen from the card. In later editions, the "Major Events" category was switched out for obscure state laws, such as "After midnight in Denver, Colorado, it is illegal to...", with players completing the law. An informal variation of the game consists of the players exclusively submitting hilarious and outrageous definitions. No points are awarded, and the winner is determined by who garnered the most laughs throughout the course of the game.

Television version

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

based on the game aired on

Pax TV Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American terrestrial television, broadcast television network and Free ad-supported streaming television, FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scri ...

in 2004 with comedian

Elayne Boosler Elayne Boosler (born August 18, 1952) is an American comedian, writer, and actress. She was one of the few women working in stand-up comedy in the 1970s and 80s, and she broke ground by adopting an Observational comedy, observational style that ...

as host.

References

* *''Family Games: The 100 Best''

External links