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We all have those moments with a special group of friends when we get together and let loose. You’re all finished with catching up and the energy in the room shifts into a hilarious, light-hearted mood. The atmosphere is infectious and even the quiet ones in your group cannot help but crack a few jokes and join in on the action. In moments like these, I often find myself pulling out a party game like Spout from my shelf to capitalize on the giggles.
Contents
Spout comes in a neat little box. Inside it, you will find 1 small rule booklet, 2 packs each of the black Topic cards and the white Phrase cards. Hence, the game offers nearly an infinite combination of cards. Sandwiched in the middle is a sand timer for 30 seconds so you do not have to rely on your smartphone’s clock app. With simple packaging like this, I have almost no qualms about carrying the box around especially when going to a party or hosting one myself. There are compartments inside that can help you separate the Phrase and the Topic cards from each other, so gameplay is made smooth and efficient. However, since the cards are tiny themselves, I end up losing at most 1 or 2 at every session, so you might want to be slightly careful.
Quick and Dirty Setup
Certainly not one for the family, Spout - the Awful Edition for players 17 and over is a card game that is similar to Taboo (in spirit). Be prepared to let go of your inhibitions and immerse yourself in a world of boundless absurdity.
To set up you will need at least 3 players. You can reportedly go up to 20, but I doubt that will be easy to organise. Then hand out everyone a sheet of paper and pencil, but if not possible then you may individually use the notes app on your smartphones. You also need to choose a scorekeeper. Generally, the person who owns the game can be appointed to this role. Spout also offers a printable template for the scorecard on their website. Shuffle the Topic and the Phrase cards on separate stacks and place them along with the sand timer on a table or surface easily accessible by all players. Finally, decide who will Spout first and how many rounds you will be playing for.
A Game of Deception
Pick up a Topic and then a Phrase card. You may take 10-15 seconds or whatever time is agreed upon to mentally prepare. Reveal your Topic card to the other players but conceal the Phrase card until your turn is complete. Flip the sand timer and Spout for the next 30 seconds.
To Spout is to spontaneously talk about your Topic for the given time. You cannot talk about anything random, however, it must revolve around the Topic regardless of whether you are lying or telling the truth. The twist here is that while you Spout on the given Topic, you must discretely inject at least one of the Phrases from the Phrase card you picked. The other players may take note of what the secret Phrase(s) might be so that after you complete Spouting, starting with the first person to your left, they go around taking turns guessing the Phrase you picked. After you now reveal your Phrase card, each player scores a point if they guess the Phrase(s) correctly. But you win a point for every other player you successfully fooled.
Place the used Topic and Phrase cards on separate ‘completed’ stacks and continue the game in a clockwise fashion. Whoever has the most points by the end of the agreed number of rounds, wins the game. If there is a tie, the game continues for another round until one of the tied players wins with the most points.
Spicy Hot Tips
Spouting provides you the chance to fabricate the wildest tales and factoids. The more made up it is, the easier it becomes to fool other players. The Phrase you have picked for your Spout must be stated exactly as it is printed on the card. Phrase cards come with 2 sets of phrases with the second one having a special 💥 symbol next to it. Generally, these Phrases are harder to hide given their ridiculous nature, so the Spout-er gets 1 more point regardless of how many players were fooled. So even if you fail to fool anyone with such Phrases, you will at least score 1 point on your turn.
When attempting to guess the Spout-er’s Phrase, having a few more words either before or after the actual Phrase still nets you a point, as long as you include the full Phrase correctly.
Another trick you may employ when Spouting is to use past Phrases to throw off other players from guessing your current Phrase. And be sure to keep going strong for the entirety of the 30 seconds, as the more content-dense your Spout is, the tougher it gets for other players to pick apart the Phrase. Use extremely shocking and bizarre sentences to dumbfound and distract. They are not true after all, right?
Sometimes players may not be aware of the Topic or cannot figure out a way to say the Phrase. They may then ‘Burn’ either card, by exchanging for a new one from the respective deck. Put the Burned cards at the bottom of the stack. This will also reset the preparation time.
If you find yourself playing with seasoned Spout-ers, you can scale up the level of difficulty. This can be in the form of allotting a maximum number of Burns per turn, or even zero Burns. The preparation time may also be reduced.
Smooth Talker
Nonsense is the name of the game here. Almost every time I have pulled this game out, new unforgettable inside jokes have been invented amongst my friend groups. While the prospect of making funny memories is quite enticing, I also find that there are a few players who will struggle with the concept of blabbering on for 30 seconds on the spot. There is inevitably a little bit of stress at the start of the game. But once it is made clear that the whole point is to be outrageous and distracting, the jokes and hilarity will soon follow. I also really appreciate that there is an official short tutorial uploaded onto YouTube so that you barely waste time explaining the important rules to everyone. While I am not sure that this will become a classic party game as the box art may suggest, this is certainly deserving of a special friend group to play with for at least a dozen times.
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