Catch Phrase is a word guessing

Word guessing

Word guessing refers to a method of reading where a beginner reader doesn't know what a word is in a sentence, so he/she guesses what the word is and reads the rest of the sentence to confirm their guess, e.g. The fox jumped over the dog...

 party game

Party game

Party games are games that some people play as forms of entertainment at social gatherings. Party games usually involve more than one player. There are a large number and styles of party games available and the one selected will depend on the atmosphere that is sought to be generated...

 commercially available from Hasbro

Hasbro

Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...

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Game components

Initially, the game consisted of a timer and a plastic disc that displayed one word at a time. Later, stand-alone electronic devices with built-in random lists of word phrases were made available.

Game play

The game is played in two teams. The goal for each player is to get their team to say the word or word phrase displayed in the disc. One member of a team starts the timer and tries to get his or her team to guess the displayed word or phrase. A clue-giver can make any physical gesture and give almost any verbal clue, but may not say a word that rhymes with any of the words, give the first letter of a word, say the number of syllables, or say part of any word in the clue (e.g., "worry" for "worry wart"). When the team guesses correctly, the other team takes its turn. Play continues until the timer runs out. The team not holding the disc when time runs out scores a point. They also have one chance to guess the word or phrase, with team members allowed to confer; a correct answer earns a bonus point. The first team to score seven points wins.

Original version

The older version of the game contains discs with 72 words on each side. The word list is advanced by pressing a button on the right side of the disc apparatus. A timer beeps at an increasing rate before randomly buzzing, signaling the end of turn. A scoring sheet is provided.

Electronic version

The later version, also known as Electronic Catch Phrase, is an electronic game

Electronic game

An electronic game is a game that employs electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. The most common form of electronic game today is the video game, and for this reason the terms are often mistakenly used synonymously. Other common forms of electronic game include...

 (in a device similar in appearance to the original version) with integrated phrase list, timer and scoring. The game unit has an LCD

Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

 screen to display words, and buttons to start the timer, advance play, and assign points to teams. Teams must guess the entire phrase as displayed.

A second edition of the electronic game with changed appearance has a backlit

Backlight

A backlight is a form of illumination used in liquid crystal displays . As LCDs do not produce light themselves , they need illumination to produce a visible image...

 LCD screen and a visual score display rather than the auditory score system.

Word list

The electronic version's word list contains 10,000 words, which are categorized:

• "Everything" – all 10,000 words in the game
• "Tech/Inventions" – Anything that has been invented through the ages, from ancient history to modern times
• "History Buff" – History, politics, wars, civics, and things in the present that will become history
• "Entertainment" – Movies, music, books, actors, singers, authors, as well as fun activities
• "Sports/Games" – Sports and games of all sorts, leisure activities
• "Geography" – Places, both geographically and answers to the question "where?"; Also things that are usually found in a particular place or region
• "Transportation" – Methods of transport, as well as things seen while travelling
• "Around the House" – Household items
• "Food/Drink" – Foods and drinks, cooking terms, ingredients, restaurants, other food items
• "Plants/Animals" – Plants, animals, items made from plants or animals
• "Family" – A subset of the words appropriate for children, no adult themes or terms

Variations

Advanced players and teams tend to forgo the game board. Instead, one person is assigned as the score keeper and tallies the points along the way.

The game is similar to Taboo

Taboo (game)

Taboo is a word guessing party game published by Hasbro in 1989. The object of the game is for a player to have his/her partner guess the word on his/her card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card....

, also from Hasbro, in which a player tries to get his or her teammates to guess words without using the word in question or five related words.