The concept – getting your teammates to say five words in a minute with a limited amount of clues – is simple enough. But where 25 Words or Less (Winning Moves Games) truly differs from Catch Phrase or Taboo, for example, is the competition of outbidding the opposing team for the right to use each card of nouns.
To play, all participants split up into two squads, and each side takes turns sending up a representative to peruse any given card. The representatives glance over the words and, starting at twenty-five, try to outbid each other for the lowest amount of clues needed to have his or her teammates utter all five nouns. The bidding ends when one rep acquiesces and allows the other team to attempt the card with his or her allotted amount of clues. If the winning bidder cannot accomplish the feat in a minute, the opposing team wins the card. A team must tally ten cards to win.
It should be noted that twenty-five clues is far beyond the amount necessary to win even the hardest of cards. The upper hand usually goes to the bidder that can get his or her teammates to guess certain words in only one clue, as well as those bidders that know when to let the other team take the card. Hubris can be one’s downfall in 25 Words or Less (as is the case in real life).
In addition, it’s important to know the capabilities of one’s teammates. If one’s partners aren’t the sci-fi/nerdy type, it may not be wise to use “lycanthrope” instead of “Lon Chaney” or “silver bullet” in order to save a word while getting them to say “werewolf” (true-life example!). Still, slicing down clues is always important. If “monstrous ape” will suffice for teammates to say “King Kong” instead of “Fay Wray film,” go for it.
As you may have gathered, much of the fun here lies in the strategy of the bidding process. If you love some good, old-fashioned word association mixed with the verbal equivalent of a limbo stick, 25 Words or Less should be up your alley.
– Scott Morrow
25 Words or Less: People, Places, and Things Edition
$20.95, Winning Moves Games
http://www.winning-moves.com
Available online and at some retail outlets