''Time's Up'' is a

charades Charades (, ). is a parlor game, parlor or party game, party word game, word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the wh ...

-based

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 ...

tabletop game Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a Table (furniture), table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, Tabletop role-playing game, tabletop role-playing games, or ti ...

s and

s. The first edition of the game was published in 1999, with the most recent edition, ''Time's Up! Deluxe'', published in 2008. It is a game for teams of two or more players, and is played in three rounds. ''Time's Up!'' is based on the 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

Celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

Gameplay

The game is played using a set of 40 randomly chosen name cards, known as the Deck of Fame. The Deck of Fame is used throughout all three rounds of the game. Each team gets 30 seconds to guess as many names as possible, with one player giving clues to his teammates. Players use words, sound effects and

as they give their clues, but speech becomes more restricted as the game progresses in rounds 2 and 3. On each team's turn, one member of the team is the Cluegiver and the rest are the Guessers. * In round 1, the Cluegiver draws a name card and begins giving clues to his teammates (Guessers). Almost anything is allowed for cluegiving, but passing is not allowed. The Cluegiver can sing, hum, point, charade, give full descriptions of the person, etc. The round ends when all names have been guessed. * In round 2, the Cluegiver may give only one word for each clue, which may be repeated as often as desired. Once the word is said, only non-verbal clues (sound effects, charades) may be given. Teammates get one guess only, and passing is allowed. * In round 3, the Cluegiver may not use any words at all. Only sounds and charades may be used for each clue. Teammates get one guess only and passing is allowed. For advanced play, there is an optional round 4 in Time's Up!, where the Guesser starts with their eyes closed while the Cluegiver freezes in a pose depicting their clue. Once frozen, the Guesser opens their eyes and must give one guess. The Cluegiver looks at the next card and repeats the process.

Versions

Two expansions for ''Time's Up'' were published by R&R Games in 2001 and 2002, adding new cards. In 2008, ''Time's Up Deluxe'' was published, which combined the best cards from the base game and those two expansions with a number of new cards. Also in 2008, ''Time's Up: Title Recall'' was published. This version of the game challenges players to guess the titles of books, films, songs, etc., using the same basic rules.

Reception

''Time's Up'' has been named Best Party Game by the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', and ''Games'' magazine, and has won over 15 awards, including the

Mensa Select Mensa Select is an annual award given by Mensa International, American Mensa since 1990 to five board games that are "original, challenging and well designed". The awards are presented at the annual Mensa Mind Games competition. Past winners ...

award.

Reviews

*''Family Games: The 100 Best''

References

{{reflist Party board games Mensa Select winners Board games introduced in 1999