Manufacturer(s) Mattel Genre(s) Board game Players 2-12, two teams | Designer(s) Terry White Language(s) English Age range 10 and up | |
Mad Gab is a game created by Terry White in which there are at least two teams and 2-12 players. Each team has two minutes to sound out three puzzles. The puzzles, also known as mondegreens, contain small words that, when put together, make a word or phrase. For example, "These If Hill Wore" when pronounced quickly sounds like "The Civil War." Another example would be "Eye Mull of Mush Sheen" quickly spoken it sounds like "I'm A Love Machine." There are two levels of difficulties: easy and hard. The faster the puzzles are answered, the more points the players score.
This game uses phonetics, which is a branch of linguistics. This game is a test for the human brain to process sounds based on simpler English-written sounds into a meaningful word or phrase. The game is designed where a person would not be able to decode the meaning of the phrase unless spoken out loud and listened; reading the phrase silently will not allow the player to decode the meaning because sounds would have to be encoded into meaningful English words.
Game versions
Original Mad Gab Game includes 300 cards and 1200 different puzzles. It also includes a timer unit, flipper unit, score pad and instructions.
There is also a new Bible Mad Gab version which references the New International Version of the Bible. This version also includes 300 puzzles and 1200 statements from the Bible. For example, "Know Ozark" when pronounced quickly sounds like "Noah's Ark."