Customer Reviews

Electronic Catch Phrase

5 star:		(154)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I first played this game on the standard card version and had a blast playing it. The only flaw with it was that after you've played for a while, you might start remembering words you've seen before and the order in which they come.

So I bought the electronic version thinking it would be a simple improvement - more words in a random sequence. It's not that simple.
Pros:
- The size of the word list, and the fact that you can choose categories is a great addition.
- The portable design. You only have to carry around 1 unit, rather than a box with the unit, the cards, and the buzzer.
- Still the same great game.

Cons:
- The fact that there's no "off" switch hampers the portability. Since the game turns on if you press one of the buttons, if you just pack this in a bag, it can easily turn itself on, and start making that LOUD beeping sound. You need a screwdriver to remove the batteries, so that's not really an option either.
- There's no volume control and the default is very loud.

- Restrictive gameplay. The original card based game was pretty loose. You could split up into teams, or you could keep score in some other way. You could play up to a number, or you could keep playing until you got bored. The electronic version forces you to split into 2 teams and play up to 10 points. There's a voice calling out the score after each point, which is annoying. Also, there doesn't seem to be a way to reset the game- if you end in the middle of a game, it'll pick up in that game the next time you play, whether you want to or not.

I think the basic strengths of the game outweigh the problems with the electronic version, but if you're someone used to the offline version, don't assume that the electronic version is exactly the same.

"Catch Phrase" is one of the many cool things I have discovered since being in college. I'll bet hardly anyone has heard of it (no one had heard of it where I come from anyway), but it is one of the most contagious games around.

The premise of the game is simple: After setting the timer, your team has to guess what word or phrase is visible on the screen. The unit cannot be passed until someone says exactly what is on the screen. When someone does guess correctly, you pass it on to a member of the other team.

For example, if the word was "pumpkin," you could say something along the lines of, "Okay, guys, Peter-Peter-blank-eater!" If someone has been keeping up on their nursery rhymes, he or she will know that the word in place of "blank" is "pumpkin." Make sense?

This game is a blast when you get a huge amount of people to play. About a month ago, around 20 of us were playing it at the same time. Good times there, folks!

Fun: Fun, fun, FUN. I can't reiterate it enough. It's interesting to see how nervous people get when the timer starts beeping faster; hence, the buzzer is about to go off. For some reason, people get really panicky when the pressure starts to build. It's only a game, people! Of course, you don't realize that at the time. Everyone is yelling out answers, and with all the excitement going on, your heartbeat can rise in a hurry.

Educational Value: This is a thinking game. That's the only way I know how to put it. You have to think about what it is your teammate is trying to say without he or she actually coming out and saying it. And they're not all as easy as "pumpkin." There are some real stumpers in this game, and that only adds to the fun (or frustration depending upon what side you're on).

Durability: This game is very durable. Just don't drop it! It probably wouldn't hold up very well since this is the electronic version.

In short, "Catch Phrase" is a very cool game. It's great to play with a lot of people, and it never gets boring. I've played this numerous times, and I always have interesting stories to tell the next day.

Remember the old $100, 000 Pyramid game that still reruns on the Game Show network with Dick Clark? This game is sort of like that. There's no silly cardboard cards to fiddle around with, and it's fast paced and fun. You describe the various words that pop up on your screen without saying it to your fellow team member, and you should see the look on people's faces when they try to pinpoint the word. It's comical - and the shouting never stops. But unlike the old pyramid game, you can get a lot of people to join in on the fun, by dividing it up into two teams.

There's a really loud beeping noise that accompanies the game - and it grows more intense minute by minute, until the device buzzes, and the person left holding the unit is the one who gets the 'raspberry' sound. (There's no volume control by the way, but if you're playing this with a lot of people, and there's tons of noise, you'll have a hard time even hearing the beeping)

Great party game, and good fun!

Catch Phrase may not be a popular game, and few have heard of it, but in reality, it is extremely fun for all ages. I've played with a 9 year-old and a 40-year-old before, and no one got bored! And not only is it fun and entertaining, but it improves vocabulary skills. One of the best parts of this game is, once you've had it for a week, your kids will still be playing it. It never loses its fun. So I recomend you try this game. If you liked this game, you should also try Cranium. A game that focuses on many different talents and is fun for everyone.

I loved this game at first. I played the card version a few time, then got the electric one. I agree with another reviewer that this is a lot more portable. Instead of lugging around a box, I can just toss this in a bag and bring it along. Unfortunately, there is no off button and it is easily set off on accident. I can live without the loud noises coming from my bag. Poor design. It also has a limited number of words. Although the game is a lot of fun, you can run through the words pretty quickly and there is no way to update the list or add an expansion.

This game is like $25,000 pyramid on tv. You have a word and you try to get others on your team to guess the word.

Minor problems are:
1. If you make a mistake with the electronic scoring you have to go all the way through to the beginning. There is no "undo" button.
2. The buzzer is hard to hear if people are yelling too loudly.
3. There is no "off" switch. The game turns itself off after no one plays with it for awhile. But, it also turns itself on when a button is pressed. So when you're on your way to grandma's, and something in the luggage starts ticking, sometimes people get a little nervous. Then you realize it's just Catch Phrase, having a nice joke on everyone.
4. Some of the topics are a bit risque for younger kids. They probably won't even know what the word is and will skip it, but still...

Good things:
1. This is a great game to play with people of mixed ages, such as at a reunion or wedding shower, because you don't have to share similar interests, even know each other, or be a trivia wizard to play.

2. Any number of people can play. We played at a reunion and had about 30. That was nice because it was something that Gen X-ers, Gen Ys, and Baby Boomers could all do together. You just have to have two teams (so atleast 4) and even numbers. You sit in a circle and every other person is on a team. For odd numbers we have two people who are alternates.

3. Everyone ends up laughing a lot, especially if you have some funny personalities involved. Sometimes people say really dumb (and therefore funny) things when trying to get you to guess an answer. "It's something red...," and that's the only clue they give, while waving their arms and shouting, "...something red!"

K, I've said enough. Great game!

I wouldn't be asking for MORE if I didn't love this game and find it totally addictive. The speed, quick thinking, and competition make it fun for anyone...I have a group of friends in their 30s and 40s and we have a blast playing it over a few bottles of wine. The most fun part (to me) is watching different people's thought processes and interactions throughout the game. Superb. Hilarious!

That said, I wish they sold additional phrase cards, downloads, or something, or would at least come out with a "genus II" edition like Trivial Pursuit did when people started memorizing the answers to the first edition's questions. I would be perfectly happy buying an additional unit to get more phrases.

Also, the scoring, reset, and power buttons aren't intuitive for new users or people who have consumed a bottle of wine.

I hope the product engineers at Hasbro are reading this. Hey, that's what you get for creating a game that appeals to intelligent, inquisitive people!

This is the best game we own, by far! We love it. It's portable, it's hassle free, it's hysterical! The timer is both annoying AND the reason we laugh so hard - people are trying to get their teammates to guess what the word or phrase is and that timer is going crazy and the noise is increasing and the people are yelling... it's fun, fun, fun. I've read the reviews for this game and some people have mentioned you cannot clear the scores or start over... well they just didn't read the instructions - you CAN start the scoring over and reset the game by holding both score buttons down at the same time. The computer is easy to learn and easy to use, at any level of "computer literacy" and the rules are easy to follow. There are only 3! Of course the one thing we find starts a few heated discussions is how to interpret the rules and you'll find it necessary to have "house rules" to settle them as fairly as possible. It's an awesome game! Now we just wonder... what will we do if we use all 10,000 words?!

I absolutely love this game, it is really fun to play with friends and family. This is the first time of owning the game and of playing this specific version.

I just got this for Christmas and that morning I played two rounds with my brother. Later in the day, i played a real game with two teams. Lo and behold, there were so many repeats! My brother and I were getting really annoyed, because the SECOND time of playing it we got at least 10 repeats. The third time we all played we got at least another 10 more.

I'm disappointed in this because if there is 10,000 words to choose from why did we get so many repeats in just one day? I am thinking of writing the company, because that isn't right.

Since this is such a fun game to play, I know i'll be playing it a lot, and that will get old really fast if I keep getting repeats.

Catch Phrase is a great game, perfect for parties, excellent for large groups. It is a terrific game to play before Taboo, because it encourages the very kind of clue-giving that is outlawed in Taboo. This means your Taboo game will be trickier to play immediately following.

But, this electronic version is a pain. Keeping the timer and the word advancer buttons on the same device is cause for occasional confusion and player mistakes. And, the scoring requires you to hit a button (that doesn't really look like a button) on the device marked either "1" or "2" meaning team 1 or team 2. The weird part is that "2" button is at the top, and the "1" button is at the bottom. Very confusing.

During a forty-five minute period of play, we had to stop the game about five or six times to correct someone accidentally hitting a wrong button for one reason or another.