Talking Tango review, by Tom Vasel

Some people cannot be allowed to play certain party games. For example, the Giggler cannot play Balderdash, because they laugh at every wrong answer they read, and don't laugh at the right answer - ruining the game for their round. The Chowderhead is the person who you don't want on your team in Trivial Pursuit, as they don't know the answer to ANY question. The Bore is no fun at Time's Up. But Talkin' Tango, despite the snazzy name, is a game that pretty much anyone can play and do okay at.

So is Talkin’ Tango a game worth your time? The short answer is a definite yes! A longer answer follows.

A short description of the game: The game is for four to eight players, with no teams. Each player chooses a character from the character deck. Each character has 5 character cards. These cards have a name on them (i.e. "Ginger"

and a humorous caricature drawn on them. The total amount of character cards (i.e. 30 for a six player game) are shuffled together and make up the character deck.

A number or rounds to play is determined. The rules recommend three, but we found that too short. Each round consists or each player having a turn once around the table.
On your turn, you draw a character from the character deck to see who your partner is. If you draw your own character, you can pick the person. Then you draw a card from the Target Word deck. These cards have twelve words on them, ranging from "Satisfaction" to "Escalator". You then roll a twelve sided die to see what your word is.

The two of you look at the word and decide how much time you need to get the others to guess it. The electronic timer with the game has 10 seconds, 20 seconds, and 30 seconds. The shorter time you take, the more points you gain/lose. You and your partner then start the timer, and give a sentence clue to the other players, trying to get one of them to guess the word before the timer runs out.

However, the crux of the game lies in the fact that you and your partner must alternate words! For example, if the word is “Happy Meal”, the clues might sound like this. Me: “It” Laura: “is” Me: “the” Laura: “thing” Me: “you” Laura: “buy” Me: “at” Laura: “McDonalds” Me: “for” Laura: “kids.” This sounds a lot easier than it is. You are not allowed to coordinate with your partner, so you have to hope that they flow smoothly with the sentence you pick. For example, if the word is “Visa”, and I’m thinking of the credit card, while my partner is thinking of the thing you need to get into a foreign country, our sentence may come out rather convoluted. The game has a few short rules about the “tango” sentence. 1). You MUST make a sentence, not just shout out a bunch of random clues. 2). You can start your sentence over if you want. 3). The first person to shout out the correct word (or a part of it) gets the points.

If someone shouts out the correct answer, they, and the two clue givers, get points. For 10 seconds, they get 3 points apiece, for 20, 2 points, and for 30 seconds, 1 point. The flip side to this is that if no one guesses the clue, you LOSE that many points. Points are gotten and lost in the form of yellow chips. Every time you get a point/lose a point, you get a chip/lose a chip.

After so many rounds, whoever has the most points wins!

Some comments on the game:

1). Artwork: The artwork on the character cards if of an extremist caricature nature. But it’s very humorous, and adds to the “funny” factor of the game.

2). Components: I would have preferred smaller poker chips rather than the big fat smooth yellow chips that come with the game. But the chips are bright and functional, and it’s quite easy to keep track of everyone’s scores. Box quality is good, and the cards are nice.

3). Partners: You’ll find that you work really well with some people – and that you work just as poorly as others. But it’s when you work poorly with others that the laughs come in. When you have one sentence in mind, and your partner has another, it is hilarious to watch both of you try to force the sentence around to your way of thinking.

4). The Word Die: This is a variation that we always use. A six sided die with the words “some”, “the”, “a/an”, “this”, “it’s”, and “one” on it. is included with the game. You can roll the die with the 12 sided die. The word you roll must be the first word of your sentence. We found that it provides a good starting point for the ideas.

5). The Fun Factor: I prefer fun over function – and this game has it in spades. As with most party games, winning is not the goal – the goal is just to have a lot of fun. And it’s especially fun watching two mismatched “dancers” try to say a sentence together. It’s even more fun to watch them argue over it after they lose points.

6). Time: Because of the timer, the game goes quite quickly, especially if you play a small number of rounds. This game can easily be played in less than 45 minutes if you want.

7). Replay value: With 12 words on a card, and 150 cards, that gives a total of 1800 words. And knowing that the words can be used over and over again, means that this game should last a long time!

So all in all, this party game is definitely worth picking up. We have a blast when playing it in my group, and I find that it works well in many situations. So if you can find this game, pick it up – it’s definitely worth the money.