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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's something you do... for fun... with a board..., January 4, 2003
Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars
Oh, okay: it's a "GAME"! And a fun one, at that!We've been playing regular Taboo for years, sometimes with the kids looking on, and in fact, I have been known to play a variant with them where we have fewer or no forbidden words besides the "taboo word" itself. Anyway, they've always been intrigued by the idea, and now, they have their very own version of the game. The words in the kids' version are generally simpler (but not TOO easy!), and there are fewer forbidden words, making clue-giving a little simpler as well. The inclusion of a funky spiral-track board and playing pieces for the two teams is a nice touch, but my beef with that is that the tracks aren't long enough... you can generally win the game in only two or three turns (averaging 3-5 points for each turn, which is easy enough). I really wish they'd made the tracks longer for a more challenging "neck and neck" racing experience! I really like the idea of the "squeaker" they've thrown in here to replace the buzzer that you get with the adult game. No batteries required... in fact, it's thrillingly low-tech in a funky, retro kind of way. The reason I've given this game only 3 stars for durability is because it looks like they've included the same hourglass as in the adult version, and it's not the most durable one in the world. We actually ruined the hourglass in our adult Taboo just with a little excess shaking. Of course, the reason we were shaking it was because the sand got stuck right in the middle and so would not flow through anymore. You'd think with something as primitive as an hourglass, there'd be a way to put in a high-quality, kid-proof version to go with the rest of this highly kid-friendly package. Despite these issues, I'd heartily recommend this game for hours of family fun. I'd suggest adult supervision to coax things along and reinforce the rules at least the first few times your kids play. But then, that's not a drawback of the game -- that's a PLUS! Recommended Ages: 6 to teens (with adult help for younger kids) Playability on Shabbat: YES!!! (no batteries, electronics or writing) (put the squeaker away before Shabbat and just shout "bzzt" at the clue-giver if they make a booboo)
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