Continue if you are looking for games like Balderdash and are curious about what similar games to play next. The game is based on bluffing your opponents into guessing your false definitions to obscure words. The real answers are often even more outrageous than the bluffs, so the game offers plenty of laughs. The Beyond version builds on this with things like movies (make up a plot) and people (say what they did).
To determine this list we broke down Balderdash to what it is. This is a bluffing party game where it is all about convincing your opponents to believe something that isn’t true. There are some additional communication hurdle hooks to keep things interesting. If you are looking for something similar, you have come to the right place. We took all this into consideration and came up with this list of the 5 board games like Balderdash.
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#05 | Scattergories
Scattergories makes the list of games like Balderdash because it is another classic party game that deals with delivering information with communication hurdles. Sure this is not the bluffing game that Balderdash is, but it does test your spectrum of pulling words from your repertoire.
In the game each player fills out a category list ‘with answers that begin with the same letter.’ If no other player matches your answers, you score points. The game is played in rounds. After 3 rounds a winner is declared, and a new game can be begun. For 2 – 6 players, games run around 30 minutes.
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#04 | Sheriff of Nottingham
Sheriff of Nottingham makes the list of board games like Balderdash because of the fun mix of bluffing and strategic gameplay. Instead of trying to convince people of the definition of a word, you are trying to convince them you are only bringing in good trade goods and no contraband. In all cases, the gatekeeper has much to think about.
In this game you are mainly a merchant of Nottingham city, but you also take turns playing the Sheriff himself. Merchants declare goods they wish to bring into the city, goods that are secretly stored in their burlap sack. The Sheriff must then determine who gets into the city with their goods, who gets inspected, and who may have their goods confiscated! You sneak stuff in you benefit, you get caught you are punished. For 2 – 5 players, games run about 45 minutes each.
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#03 | Letter Jam
Letter Jam makes the list of board games like Balderdash because it is a great deduction and word game. Instead of trying to guess correct definitions, here you need to provide word-based hints to each other and deduce your scrambled mystery word.
At the start of the game, each player receives a set of face-down letter cards that can be arranged to form an existing word (players selecting words for each other). Throughout the game, other players search each other’s cards to make words. Ultimately you are trying to use clues to figure out your master secret word and the more players that successfully do, the better the victory. For 2 – 6 players, games go for about 45 minutes.
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#02 | Wits & Wagers
Wits and Wagers makes the list of board games like Balderdash because it is another party game with plenty of hustle. It is a trivia game but the hook is that you can bet on everyone else’s guesses. Being good at trivia will only get you so far, reading your opponents will take you over the finish line.
Players write a guess to a question such as “How many feet wide is an NFL football field?” and places it face-up on the betting mat. These will always be an amount based so there are high/low options. After answers are down you can bet on your own answer or someone else’s. The closest answer — without going over — pays out according to the odds on the betting mat. Strike it big and you’ll be cheering like you just hit the jackpot! For 3 – 7 players, games run about 25 minutes.
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#01 | Detective Club
Detective Club take the top spot on the list of board games like Balderdash because it also meshes bluffing with information matching. Instead of matching a word to its definition, here you need to match an image to a clue. To win you need to identify who is lying.
Players take turns giving a clue that matches two artwork cards in their hand. The hook is that everyone except one person knows the clue and the goal is the figure out who that person is. Everyone puts down two art cards and at the end has to describe why they knew the clue and are not the mystery liar. The person who doesn’t know has to lie and stretch their way through so as not to be detected. For 4 – 8 players, game go for 45 minutes.
