Fictionary

Fictionary, also known as the Dictionary Game, is a word game in which players guess the definition of an obscure word.

A turn consists of one player picking a word from the dictionary and each other player composing a fake definition. A round is completed when each player has selected a word to be guessed.

Players earn points (1) by guessing the correct definition of a word, (2) by composing a fake definition that other players guess is the correct one, and (3) as Picker, selecting a genuine word that no players vote for.

The winner is the player who has earned the most points after a pre-determined number of rounds.

Supplies

• A large, preferably unabridged dictionary
• A pencil, pen or other writing implement for each player
• Notecards or identical pieces of paper for each player

Order of play

Individual handwriting and to clarify any questions. (Stumbling over or misreading a definition is usually a sign that it's not the correct one -- unless the picker is trying to bluff.)

Once all definitions have been handed in, the picker reads the list aloud, once. The Picker may read the definitions in any order. On a second reading, each other player in turn then votes for the definition he or she believes is correct. Because she selected the word and knows the definition, the picker does not vote.

One variation allows a player to vote for the definition he submitted, although he doesn't get points for doing so. (This can encourage other people to vote for that definition as well, and the player would get those points.) Another variation does not allow a player to vote for his own definition.

Scoring

Players earn one point for voting for the correct definition, and one point for each vote cast for the definition they wrote.

The Picker earns a point if no one selects the correct definition.

Play then proceeds with the dictionary going to another player, which starts a new turn. A full circuit of the dictionary constitutes a round.

Strategy

Often simple words (Strunt) are more successful than complicated words with detectable Latin roots.

Phrases like "Any of several..." or "One or more..." sometimes lend authority to definitions. Players may decide beforehand whether fields are to be included: "(obsolete), (Geology), (dialect)," etc. The dictionary might be passed around first, to remind players of its characteristic style.

Other versions of the game

The board game Balderdash is based on Fictionary.

Fictionary is featured as a segment on the weekly US National Public Radio quiz show Says You!, where it is known as the bluffing round.

In the UK, Call My Bluff is a popular daytime BBC television panel game based on Fictionary. Two teams of three players (journalists, B and C list celebrities, etc) compete. A player from one team has to decide between the three proposed definitions provided by the opposing team. If the first player correctly identifies the true definition of the word, they earn their team a point. If they are wrong, the team which provided the definitions are awarded the point. Call My Bluff was first aired in October 1965, with Robin Ray as chair. As of 2003 the programme is chaired by Fiona Bruce.

One variation uses a book of assorted poems instead of a dictionary. A rhyming quatrain is chosen by the picker. The first three lines are read and a fake fourth line must be made up by the other players which acts like the fake definitions.