How to Play Balderdash

Balderdash is a classic bluffing game made by the Mattel Company. Best played with four or more people who are aged 12 or older, hilarity can ensue as players try to guess which facts are true and which are fictitious. Read on to learn how to play Balderdash.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• A Balderdash game
• Friends who want to play

1. Have each person roll the dice. The person who gets the highest number is the Dasher and must go first. The Dasher chooses a category for the round-Weird Words, Peculiar People, Incredible Initials, Marvelous Movies or Laughable Laws. He then reads a word, person, set of initials, movie title or name of a law aloud.

2. Write down what you think the answer is on a sheet of paper. If you do not know the correct answer, make one up. You can make your answers as outlandish or deceptively simple as you like. For example, if the category is Weird Words, and the Dasher calls out "shuttlecock," you should write down what you think is a convincing definition of the word (or the real definition if you know it). All other players do the same thing.

3. Pass your written answers to the Dasher. He reads them over to himself first. If a player has written the correct definition, the Dasher rewards that person three points and he or she cannot play for the remainder of the round. The Dasher reads aloud all the definitions, mixing in the real definition from the game card. Each player guesses the real answer, and the Dasher notes how many votes each answer receives. Each person who correctly guesses the real answer gets two points. For every false answer, the player who submitted the answer gets one point. If no one guesses the real answer, the Dasher gets three points.

4. Tally the points. Decide in advance how many rounds to play. The player with the most points at the end wins.

5. Use the provided game board if you desire. Instead of tallying up individual players' points, the players can move their game pieces forward on the game board as many points awarded in each round. Use the Double Bluff spaces on the game board to receive double the points for that round if you land there. The player to reach the Finish line first wins.