Outburst is a hilarious word game that provides hours of non-stop fun.
Outburst as a Prime Party Game
If you like to party and have intensely competitive friends who can think on their feet, then Outburst will be a hit at your next get together. Outburst is subtitled "The Game of Verbal Explosions!" for good reason. The object is to get players to guess as many of the 10 items that are listed on game cards relating to specific topics. For example, if your card reads: "Parts of the Body that Come in Pairs," you are given 60 seconds to shout out as many answers as you can regardless of how humorous or ridiculous they may be. The ensuing verbal madness is a riot, and the more players you have the funnier the exchanges. Your party guests will be in stitches all night long.
How to Play Outburst
One of the advantages of Outburst is that it is incredibly simple to play. The game requires creating two teams of older children or adults, with a minimum of one person on each team. A single player from each team is selected to pull a topic card from the deck. Each card features a heading followed by a list of 10 items that fall under the given topic. An example would be a topic card that reads: "10 Salad Ingredients." The team whose turn it is has one minute to name the 10 salad ingredients listed on the topic card. Other topics include:
- 10 Slang Terms for Money
- 10 Movie Studios
- 10 Cars Rich People Drive
- 10 Animals of the Cat Family
- 10 Robert Redford Films
Once the timer runs out, the score is calculated by adding up as many points as successful guesses, plus a bonus determined by a roll of dice. The first team to get 60 points wins.
Types of Outburst
The original version debuted in 1986 and has been updated in subsequent years. The game mechanism is very similar to the popular TV game show Family Feud.
The Original
The original game contains the following:
- 400 topic cards (double-sided for 800 topics)
- Six pass chips
- Two scoring pegs
- Card viewer
- Two black dice
- One green die
- Dry erase marker
- Timer
- Wooden scoring track
- Instructions
Pass chips can be used up to three times during the game. Each team has the option of passing on the first topic offered. If a team chooses to pass, it must then accept the next topic drawn, while the other team will have to play the passed-on topic during its next turn.
Outburst II
This game is an update of the original and includes new topics that differ from the first edition.
Contents include:
- 400 topic cards (double-sided for 800 topics)
- Six pass chips
- Two scoring pegs
- Card viewer
- Two white dice
- One purple die
- Dry erase marker
- Timer
- Scoring board/Card tray
- Instructions
Outburst Remix
This version differs from the original Outburst in that it has new topics plus it features an added "remix" element of having the topic hidden before teams decide whether to play or pass. The topic cards include a headline, which provides a clue but doesn't reveal the actual topic. For example a topic card headline may read, "Dirty Dish?" for the topic "Publications about Celebrities."
The remix version's contents include:
- 300 topic cards (double-sided for 600 topics)
- One scoreboard
- One card viewer
- Two score markers
- Timer
- Six pass chips
- Ten-sided dice
- Six-sided dice
- Instructions
Other Versions
Other Outburst versions preserve the integrity of the game's object and rules, but feature different topics and some added bonuses.
- 15th Anniversary Edition: This 15th Anniversary Edition has updated topics and answers.
- Outburst-Bible Edition: This version includes topics that relate to facts found in the Bible.
- Outburst for PC: This computerized version of the popular list game can be played with a single person. The PC version includes an animated announcer and fake commercials that appear between categories that offer outlandish products. The questions are straight from the original version; however, the video version only requires the first three letters for an entire answer to be correct. Topics range from the basic "Movies Featuring Airplanes" to the quirky "Foods That Create Intestinal Gas."
