Bamboozle Rules

Bamboozle--"the game where your time is not your own"--has often been criticized for its very vague rules. If you have ever played the game, you have probably realized that there is no real way for one team to guess words in less time than it takes the other team to make them up. Here are the rules to how the game is most commonly played.

Choose teams

Choose two teams of players and pick one person from each team to go first. Have someone besides the selected players use the letter shaker to get the five letters that will be used for the round. The selected players should not see the letters until the timer is started.

Create words

Start the timer and place the letter shaker where the two selected players can see the letters. The selected players have until the timer runs out to come up with one word for each letter. If there is a blank cube, each player decides what letter she wants it to represent. Do not disclose to the other team what letter you select!

Exchange lists

Finish any word that you are currently writing, once the timer is out, but you may not write any other words regardless of whether you have written all five words. Next, the two players who wrote the words exchange lists with each other. Be careful not to show anyone else the words!

Guess the words

Randomly select a team to go first. The starting team does not have any advantage. Start the timer. The person on the selected team with the word list must try to get her team to guess the words written on the list. Players have two options of how to get their team to guess the words. They may give verbal clues, or act out the word, similar to a game of charades.

Points

Award 1 point for every word that is guessed correctly from verbal hints. For every word that is guessed correctly from gestures only, award that team 2 points. You do not have to use the same method for every word. You can choose to act out two words through gestures and the other three through verbal hints. If the person giving the clue says any part of the word, the other team gets 1 point and the word is skipped.Once the timer runs out, add the appropriate points to that team's score.

Repeat

Repeat with the other team, then choose another two players to compete until each player on both teams has had a turn.

The Winner

The first team to reach 30 points wins the game!

Resources

• Buy Bamboozle
• Buy the game on ebay