Outburst (game)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Outburst (subtitled ''The Game of Verbal Explosions!'') is a trivia
party game Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillia ...
designed by Brian Hersch and first published in 1986. Two teams compete over multiple rounds to reach 60 points by guessing items listed on a Topic Card within a time limit.


Publication history

''Outburst'' was originally created in 1986 by Brian Hersch and published by his
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
game company Hersch and Company. In an interview for '' The Game Inventor's Guidebook,'' Hersch claimed the idea for the game came to him while listening to a historical radio program on the drive to a dinner party. ''Outburst'' was later licensed by
Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known as Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. It remained family owne ...
, now a division of
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 ...
. From 2004–2015, it was produced by
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, ...
before being licensed back to Hasbro in 2016.


Alternate versions

Under its various publishers, the ''Outburst'' received different changes to its design and topics. ''Outburst Junior,'' a version of the game for children aged 4–10, was released in 1989 and featured colour-coded trivia cards with different levels of difficulty. In 1997, a
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
version was released which added additional variations and the ability to play over the internet. The newest edition, published in 2017, does not use a game board like previous editions in order to make the game less dependant on luck.


Gameplay

The game is played with two teams using Topic Cards with topic headings printed on each side, followed by a list of 10 items that fall under the given topic. The object is to guess the items that were chosen for inclusion on the card, given the topic. Each round, one of the two teams, with all of its players free to speak at the same time, attempts to guess as many of the 10 listed items as it can before the timer runs out. The team receives as many points as successful guesses, and one item on each card is worth a bonus determined by a roll of dice if guessed. Most editions of the game use game board to keep track of points, with each team moving their Scoring Peg on the point track after each of their turns. The first team to reach 60 points wins. A special viewer is used that prevents the card from being read (other than the topic heading) until it is placed in the viewer, which allows a team to pass. A team has the option before playing or passing on the first topic offered up to three times during the game. If the team chooses to pass, they must then accept the next topic drawn, while the other team will have to play the passed-on topic on their next turn.


Reception

In a review for Issue 89 of ''
Games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...
'', Scott Marley praised ''Outburst'' for its clever topics and team-based gameplay. The game was also featured ''Games'''s Best Games of 1988, where Marley concluded that "though ''Outburst'' is easy to learn, many topics are too hard—and occasionally too spicy—for children."


See also

* Talk About (game show)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Outburst (Game) Board games introduced in 1986 Parker Brothers games Party games Word games