Game: Beyond Balderdash

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edosan — 2008-11-26T02:03:11+00:00

Box contents

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1000rpm — 2008-05-11T18:39:53+00:00

Mini Game

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1000rpm — 2008-05-11T18:37:57+00:00

Mini Game

Thread: 2 player!?

ryanmaesen — 2008-05-01T03:04:13+00:00

Has anyone played this with 2 people???
How does that work!?

Thread: Re: Apples to apples or balderdash?

asgelb — 2008-04-14T04:12:44+00:00

Both are good, but I think Balderdash is more fun, and creates harder and longer laughs. Thats my opinion.

The others here have been accurate in their comparisons. I own both, and love them both.

Theres just something about Balderdash, though, that is just so much fun. I think its worth having both games. If you're with a lively, imaginative group, bring out balderdash.

If you want something very quick, and more player neutral, bring out Apples.

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jsper — 2008-04-04T02:15:54+00:00

Back of the box (spanish edition)

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jsper — 2008-04-04T01:14:34+00:00

The board (spanis edition)

Thread: Revisiting an old friend... (a short review)

jwilhm — 2008-01-18T15:17:50+00:00

My wife and I bought Beyond Balderdash a long time ago, and we played it a lot with friends when we were first dating/married. But as time went on, and our gaming tastes evolved, Beyond Balderdash slowly worked it's way to the back of our gaming shelves for seemingly permanent storage.

Then we moved, and as our game cabinet became deconstructed for packing purposes, I saw it sitting on the shelf and decided to put it to good use. I teach Speech and Drama for a Middle School, and this is the perfect game for that age group. It helps build vocabulary, stresses imagination and creativity to not just come up with the funniest definition or answer, but also to make it sound believable too.

Drama teachers like myself can use any of the information on the cards to create any scene framework and adapt to many lesson plans. Here's a brief rundown on what I use them for.

For me, the movie title is the best because my class can use the suggestions, or even the real synopsis, and create an improvisational scene out of it. Now the idea has gone from their minds, to the page, to a living and breathing scene. It helps them grasp the entire creative process in a way that they may not be used to, but it provides an excellent framework for teaching and learning.

The Acronym section is my second favorite because my students can take the real group name, or one of the fake group names that they come up with, and create another improvisation or scripted scene of what a meeting of this group would look like. While NRA may really stand for the National Rifle Association, if the students like the Nerd Relocation Association idea better, then I let them run with it. Maybe they'll write a scene about Nerds and Geeks getting relocated (like Witness protection programs) so they don't get beat up by bullies.

The date section lends itself to this same idea of re-enacting what happened on the "historic" day. The word and people sections can simply be used to spark some general ideas, and I usually use it for free writing exercises in their class journals. I try to ask them questions like "Based on the real definition of the word, what other things or words can you associate with it?" or "Which information (real or fake) is most interesting to you about the person named? Why is that one more interesting then the others?"

I don't use it every day, but it has certainly proved to be a useful tool for my Speech and Drama class, and I am very happy that I finally unearthed it and put it to good use! Maybe some day I will actually have them play by the real rules.

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jsper — 2008-01-13T18:43:01+00:00

Side of the box (high scan resolution)

Thread: Re: What's YOUR ruling?

TaleSpinner — 2008-01-02T22:45:17+00:00

I once lent the game to a bunch of friends for their weekend away. They were all Mauritians and English wasn't their native language. Afterwards, they told me that part-way through the game, the correct answer was too easy to guess - it was the most grammatically, verbally correct one!

As such, they played it this way: the Dasher reads the answer and then tries to re-write the answer in his own words without changing the definition. Worked out much better for them after that.

Thread: Re: What's YOUR ruling?

Spielguy — 2008-01-02T16:54:36+00:00

You should have read the answer exactly as written. No ifs, ands, or buts. Part of the game is making sure you write legible and appropriately and do whatever else you need to not distinguish your answer. If finishing writing the answer gives you away then work on your technique. Even if you answer is short you can spend longer writing it.

The game is about bluffing, not about rewording answers. They are definitely not the same thing.

Thread: Re: What's YOUR ruling?

AnakinOU — 2008-01-02T16:51:46+00:00

Read the answers as written.

Also, take your time writing the official answer. If it's a very short answer, write very slowly, or pretend that you're writing more than you are. Hell, just doodle on 3/4 of the paper if you have to. Just don't let the other players notice that the real answer is only 3 words.

Or, just have fun and don't try to "win" the game. Just play and enjoy the time you're spending with your family and friends.

Thread: What's YOUR ruling?

Verkisto — 2008-01-02T16:41:35+00:00

On New Year's Eve, my wife and I were playing a game of Balderdash with another couple, and on one of the turns where I was the Dasher, my answer was ridiculously short, while the other players all added lengthy commentary to their own answers. Since it was obvious that I was the first person to finish writing the answer down, I decided to "re-word" the answer when I read it, so that the length of the answer wouldn't give it away.

Now, I didn't change the definition at all. All I did was break it down into more phrases, and put some of the stuff in a different order. But the meaning was clear, and nothing was changed within the context of the answer, save for the wording. I mentioned this afterward, just as an aside, and EVERYone got upset over this tactic. They said I was cheating, and that I should have read the answer exactly as it appeared on the card.

The only way that I can see this having any sort of effect on their responses was that the answer sounded less "professionally written," and thus may have clued them in to thinking it was an incorrect definition. But I stand by my assertion that the game is about bluffing, and that rewording the answer without changing the definition is a form of bluffing, just as it would be if I started laughing "uncontrollably" over the correct answer.

No one else guessed the correct answer, which I think is why it was such a sore spot with the other players. I didn't even come close to winning, though when I pointed this out, my wife attributed my loss to karma over the incident. But I have to ask: What would y'all have thought of this tactic?

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FLo711 — 2007-12-16T03:01:34+00:00

Queations Closeup - Australian edition

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FLo711 — 2007-12-16T02:59:52+00:00

Australian edition playing pieces

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FLo711 — 2007-12-16T02:58:50+00:00

Answers closeup - Who's gonna get these???

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FLo711 — 2007-12-16T02:57:36+00:00

Samples of Questions - How well can you do?

Thread: Re: Apples to apples or balderdash?

Boarass — 2007-09-28T14:38:36+00:00

A2A, hands down. The problem with Balderdash is that it screws people who aren't good writers. Dictionary definitions "sound" a certain way, and if you don't know how to mimic that style, your answers won't get voted for. Balderdash is billed as a party game but it rewards technical skill. It also requires writing something every round, which is a major turnoff when you're sitting around drinking and just want a good time.

Thread: Re: Apples to apples or balderdash?

GaryP — 2007-09-28T14:10:42+00:00

Kelly's description is exactly right.

A2A is simple enough for anyone to join in and have a laugh. Just pick a card and play it! People will learn to "play the judge", that is, whether they tend to look for literal or silly matches, but overall it's just about laughing at the possible answers.

Balderdash (or Beyond Balderdash) really requires creativity on the part of the players. Again, this can be either more serious attempts at coming up with a viable answer, or just being silly. The best is coming up with something between the two.

I enjoy Balderdash much more than A2A because I love imagining crazy answers and seeing what others create. However, A2A does not require so much thought. It is also great for parties because it takes just a couple minutes to learn, and people can join and leave the game as they like.

Thread: Re: Apples to apples or balderdash?

chockle — 2007-09-28T06:28:00+00:00

Well, I'd say they're both fun. To me, the biggest difference is that Beyond Balderdash can be rough for players that are not very imaginative or creative. With Apples to Apples, anyone can easily play a card that may well win a point, but with Balderdash, the players should be creative.

So, AtA is more accessible and plays quicker. Balderdash allows more scope for clever ideas, but has more downtime as stragglers finish up their clever writings. Either game will get lots of laughs.

Thread: Apples to apples or balderdash?

Viny — 2007-09-28T04:12:57+00:00

Anyone out there tried these 2?

Been wanting to get either of them...just not sure which is more fun...any ideas guys?

Thanks!

Thread: Beyond Balderdash: a twist on an old parlor game

edosan — 2007-05-23T15:44:07+00:00

Beyond Balderdash (and its original version Balderdash) are packaged versions of the classic parlor game "Dictionary," and has inspired several similar games (Liebrary and Wise and Otherwise to name two).

Gameplay revolves around a deck of cards with definitions for some very obscure words. The active player takes a card and reads the word. Then every other player writes up their definition of the word -- it could be as serious or silly as the player wishes. The active player mixes up all the definitions with the real definition, and then everyone votes on what they think the "real" definition is.

You get points for either:
1) guessing the word's definition correctly
2) other people guessing your (bluffing) definition

The difference between Balderdash and Beyond Balderdash is that while the original game only had the definitions of obscure words, BB adds things like movies, people, and initials. This is interesting because it expands the possibilities, but also can be troublesome because there is more of a chance a player might know the "real" answer.

Pretty straightforward. The nice thing about Balderdash instead of just grabbing the biggest dictionary you can to play for free is that you don't have to scan through Webster's to find a word that is "just hard enough." It's an easy enough game to describe and is good for some laughs. I think the game is decent and can be found at your local Goodwill easily. The extra topics for BB will also appeal to many more people. Some people may be interested in the more themed versions (like Liebrary for book lovers). (My rating 6/10)

Thread: Re: Party Game favourite

jbetz45453 — 2007-05-15T12:06:26+00:00

thia is a really fun game and a party game I enjoy as well.We have also played with more than 6 by just ditching the game board and keeping everyones points on a piece of paper.

Thread: Party Game favourite

scotto — 2007-05-15T01:23:04+00:00

Absolute Balderdash is one of my favorite party games. If it's ok, I'd like to spend a bit of time and outline a few of the reasons why.

It all started about 5 years ago when a good friend of mine and I were discussing various methods of entertainment available for a group of 20 somethings. At this stage we weren't board gamers, but the occasional party game (taboo or pictionary) would see the table every now and again, usually after a dinner party.

We decided to get a group of 15 of our closest friends together and were looking at a game that might suit. Pictionary and Taboo were both out, mainly because we were sick of the same ol' thing. So off to the local target we skipped to find something that would suit.

After considering everything from "Trivial pursuit: You really aren't smart enough for this edition" to the "Go directly to jail to avoid the misery of playing this version" of Monopoly, we were about to give up hope when the shelf packer suggested we try Balderdash, saying she had tried it a few weeks earlier and it had her and her family in stitches.

We got it home and unpacked just in time for the assembled masses to stagger through the doors ready for a rollicking good time.

This version of the game is a little different from the basic Balderdash, having multiple categories:

A Word
A Persons Name
A Movie Title
A Set of Initials
and
A Date.

The game is played by nominating one person to be what they term the "Dasher". It is the dashers' role to:

1:Roll a die.
2:Select the appropriate category from a selected card according to the die roll, 1=word, 2=person etc. If a 6 is rolled the dasher selects the category they think is most appropriate.
3:Collect and read everyones attempt to create a believable explanation for the item (meaning for the word, reason the person was famous, synopsis of the movie, what the initials stand for or what occurred on the date) along with the real answer.
4:Record everyones vote for the answer that they though was correct (or in some cases the most creative).
5:Allocate points for people that a: voted for the correct answer, b: had people vote for their response and c: were actually correct in the answer they submitted (this hardly ever happens).

After all this is done, markers are moved along a scoring track, which for some reason is letters of the alphabet and not numbers... If no one voted for the correct answer, the dasher also gets points.

The cards are then passed clockwise around the group giving everyone the chance to be the "dasher".

Now that might not seem like much of a game, but the beauty of this game lies in the creativity of the people you are playing with. As you can imagine, having 15 different people give you a synopsis for the movie title "Big Yellow Bikini Bottoms" can lead to hilarity few games seem to manage.

The game is listed as being only for 2-6 player. I think that is only because it only comes with 6 tokens, but we found that the tokens ended up being forgotten by the third or forth round anyway because people were laughing so hard that they for got to move.

This is a great party game that will never leave my collection.

Thread: Re: Review from Creation and Play

Nytrydr — 2007-05-09T03:00:40+00:00

Having owned and played many, many boardgames, I have to say none have surpassed Absolute Balderdash. The best fun for me is to play with an obscene number of players (10 or more) it gets hard but the stuff people come up with is so funny, it'll significantly increase the queue for the toilet as people's bladders burst from excess laughter. I agree with your point about the guessing mechanic being the standout in this game. A good balanced review (not just cos I agree either

Thread: Absolute Balderdash - Movies are fun!

FLo711 — 2007-03-10T05:42:07+00:00

Absolute Baderdash (An alternate version of Beyond Balderdash) is one of my favourite dinner party games. It plays great with up to 8 people, and is less of a game and more an excuse to make jokes and just have fun!

I have played the original Balderdash and while its fun, I believe that the categories in Absolute Balderdash make for more hilarity by allowing for longer and more involved answers. Probably the best ones invlove the movie and initials categories.

This session involved 7 people, all non-gamers except for myself. the rules were easy to explain and after a few minutes picking colours we were underway. Jason jumped out to an early lead, both picking correctly 3 times in a row and having almost everyone fall for his brilliant inital of P.W.D.C.A - Port Wine Decanter Company of America (The real one was Portugese Water Dog Club of America?? Who was gonna guess that?)

Jason was the first to reach midway before anybody else was past a quarter of the scoring track. Then came the movie questions. Ah how I love the movie questions. Here is a sample fo the two highlights of the night.

In The Land of The Owl Turds
This one had several hilarious answers including one about a space opera series ala Battlestar Galactica, Another about a documentary on the country of Botswanna famous for its owl. The real answer was possibly the best though, but nobody even came close to guessing it. "The strange story of strange guy who drives around with do-do in his truck, trying to pick up girls" - ??? - do-do? Nobody was going to go for a descrption with those words in it.

Crazy Fat Ethel II
Wow. What a name. To say we went to town on this one is an understatement. Some quick player samples
-The story of a mercenary and his attempted rescue of the cow he loves
-A history professor goes crazy and holds his class hostage, demanding that the mona lisa be renamed 'Ethel'

The real answer - "An overwieght loony is let out of a mental hospital and proceeds to go on a people eating binge". Probably the strangest thing is that is was a sequel, what the heck was the first movie about?

By this stage we had run out of wine and beers so we broke open the spirits, which I think was Jasons downfall. He proceeded to sink many chasers, but completely screw up all his answers i.e.

Initials N.D.A (Real answer National Dentists Association - pretty boring)
Jasons response: (K)Nuckle Dusters Association. Hmmm. whoops, not quite going to fool anyone with that one are we Jason?

By this stage scoring was getting a little random, its was a kind of 'when you rmembered to do it' thing. And the eventual winner was Amy. But suffice to say the real winner on the day was all of us for having such a great time!

Thread: Review from Creation and Play

CaptainJax — 2006-06-20T10:55:50+00:00

This review is a cross-post from my blog - to see the original follow the link in my profile.

I'll freely admit that I prefer strategy games to party games. However, Absolute Balderdash is entertaining due to the scoring method. The good: the scoring method requires you to interact with your opponents which adds interest. The bad: the board and pieces are fairly bland, generic party game fare.

In Absolute Balderdash, players take it in turns to read out a question from one of five categories:

Words: The reader reads out an obscure word, such as 'Titillomania' and the other players must write down a meaning for it.
People: The reader reads out the name of a person, and the other players have to write down why that person became famous.
Initials: The reader reads out an acronym, such as ACNE and the other players write down what it stands for.
Film: The reader reads out the name of a film, and the other players have to write down the main plot line.
Law: The reader reads out the beginning of a law (e.g. In Brainerd, Minnesota, it is illegal for men to ...), and the other players must complete the law.

While the other players write down their answer the reader must write down the correct answer as provided on the card. The reader then reads out all the answers and players must guess which one is correct. Here's where it gets interesting. The scoring is as follows:

You get two points if you write down the right answer.
You get one point for guessing the correct answer from those read out.
You get one point if someone guesses the answer you wrote down.
You get two points if you're the reader and nobody guesses the correct answer.

The answers tend to be fairly off the wall, so your chance of writing down the correct answer with nothing to go on is fairly slim. Your best bet when it comes to getting points is twofold: write an answer so implausible that your opponents believe it is the right answer; and to correctly guess the right answer from those provided by your opponents - by this point there's more information available and it's much easier. The former is actually a very entertaining mechanic as you try to create answers strange enough for the other players to believe they're the right answer.

In addition to the question mechanics, the game features a scoring track which determines which type of question will be read out and a spinner allowing players who land on certain spaces to spin the spinner and either move back one or forward two or three extra spaces. These are fairly standard, and feature in lots of party games - so nothing particularly interesting there.

Still, Absolute Balderdash is fairly entertaining, even when sober, and if party games are your thing, then it's a good example of the genre. I give it 6, but it's probably nearer 7.5 for party gamers.

Thread: User Review

kimapesan — 2005-02-25T16:22:10+00:00

"Beyond Balderdash" takes the original concept of Balderdash and applies it to more than mere words - dates, films, and more are added to this popular party game of bluffing.

As in the original Balderdash, on a turn a player rolls one die to randomly select an item from a card, and then each player secretly writes down some plausible definition or description for that item. The current player writes down his/her own definition as well, and also writes down the correct description according to the answers on the back of the card. For example, given a word such as "Kripxpatl" each player would try to write down a definition for the word. Given a date such as "February 29th, 1800" each player would try to come up with an "important" event that happened that day. With a movie title such as "Doctor Smith's Apples" each player would try to describe the basic plot of this sub-B grade film.

Then the current turn player reads each description out loud, and each player must try to guess which one is the right answer. If someone guesses your description, you score a point; if someone guesses the right one, he scores two points. If no one guesses the right answer, the current player scores points. Rare is the person who actually writes a description that matches the right answer - that person scores three points and his/her description is not used for that round.

Usually in a game such as this, players cannot resist coming up with absurdly funny definitions or descriptions rather than trying to write a plausible description, as has happened many times in my own playing of the game. It's meant to be a light party game and this is the fun element of the game - trying to actually win the game through serious play will not give you much sense of accomplishment or fun.

That said, this is not quite as much fun as the original Balderdash. Despite the varied categories in this game, the one category that still works the best is the word category. Many of the other categories start to have a predictable pattern to them, so that it becomes easier and easier to guess the real description out of the pile of phony descriptions entered by the players. The word category works the best, as it is quite easy to either come up with a very plausible definition for each word or to come up with an outrageously silly definition, and either one works in this game.

It's a fun party game with a decent level of replay value, as the game is short enough that players cannot go through too many cards or items in a single game. Do be sure to bring lots of paper though - the little pads of paper supplied with the game last about as long as a roll of toilet paper in a family of 5! But if I had to choose, I'd go with the original Balderdash.

Thread: User Review

MattDP — 2003-09-11T15:35:33+00:00

This review is for the UK version of the game, called absolute balderdash which (from the description and photos) is slightly different to the version presented here.

For those who haven't come across the original, the Balderdash series are party games in which the players attempt to deceieve each other by writing down false answers to obscure questions. One player then reads out all the answers, including the real one, and points are scored on the round based on who guessed right and how many people guessed each fake answer. Players move round a board the number of spaces according to the score and first one to the finish wins.

It requires at least 4 people to play well, and can be played with much larger numbers as it's suitable for team play. The game can be a long one, especially with lots of players but this is easy to fix: simply agree on an earlier finishing square than the "official" one. It has precious little impact on the game.

In the original game, all the questions were the definitions of unusual words. However in this version, there are a number of categories. The category to be chosen is determined by the category printed in the square that the leading piece occupies. Since it's not uncommon for a piece not to move during a turn, this means that the category can stay the same for several rounds. Some of the squares allow the player drawing the card to choose which category they want before drawing. The answers to all the categories are generally quite amusing, so the fake definitions tend to be as well, and it's from this that the game derives much of it's humour and appeal.

The other categories are films (hear the title, write a plot summary), initials (decide what they stand for), laws (finish the law, for example "In New England, it is illegal for ladies to ..." and people (hear a name, decide what they were famous for). The effectiveness of these is very variable. The words and laws work very well indeed. Films gets a mixed response: it's fun but it takes a long time since you end up writing much more than for the other categories. Initials sounds like a great idea but isn't, since it's too restrictive: it's hard to come up with plausible yet amusing answers. People suffers from the opposite problem: the name gives no clue at all so it's very difficult to guess.

Players take turns to be the card drawer, who picks up a card and reads the question printed on it for the appropriate category. He then hides the card in the box lid and waits for everyone to write down an answer. These are then collected and the card drawer reads them all out in whatever order they choose and the other players take turns to guess which one they think is the right answer. Players score a point for getting the right answer, and a point for someone guessing their fake answer. If no-one gets the right answer, the drawing player gets two points. Pawns are then advanced along the board one space for each point.

Some squares require the pawn to spin a spinner in the middle of the board which can advance or retard the pawn a few paces. We've always found this to be annoying, since it introduces a totally unnecessary random element into a non-random game. But some people might enjoy the luck factor.

Overall it's an awful lot more fun that this dry review is going to make it sound. The questions are well researched and very varied, and the answers are often more bizarre than most of the players can come up with! Games are usually very funny, especially with a little alcoholic lubrication, although it's still fun without! As I've mentioned, it can be a long game, but on several occasions I've know different groups demand to play again, even after a mammoth session of this game. That should give you some idea of it's appeal .