Deal the Bid Cards, numbered 1 to 5, evenly among all players. When the current (nonscoring) Reader picks a random question and announces which of 12 categories it covers, everyone simultaneously discards a Bid Card. Each question has five or more answers (e.g., "Name the six flags to have flown over Texas"). Players answer in order from lowest to highest Bid, but no previous answer may be repeated. You have to be confident (or desperate!) to play a high number. Correct answers move your pawn forward the number of spaces equal to your Bid's value, plus one for each opponent who answered incorrectly.

Playing one of five special Bid Cards gains you its advantage, such as getting two guesses. Answering correctly from some spaces earns you bonus points, whereas incorrect responses force a retreat. First to Finish wins. Partygoers everywhere will find this trivia game innovative, accessible, and engaging.

The game board is a spiral race-track format. The 50 Dibs cards numbered 1-5 (plus some special cards) are dealt out and each player takes turn being the MC. The MC reads the category (Movies, Music, World, Arts, TV, Sports, etc.) and players each secretly bid how confident they are of answering the question. The Reader then asks the question from the card which has at least five answers. Lowest bidder answers first and can choose which question to answer on a multiple question card (provide the full phrase for one of these 5 acronyms...) or any answer on a multiple answer card (Name one of the 5 hosts of the Tonight Show). If you answer correctly, you move forward the number you bid. If you are wrong, everyone else including the MC moves forward one space. There are special spades on the board that can help you or hurt you if you start there on the beginning of your turn, and part of the strategy is figuring out how many of the other players are going to miss the answer so you can land where you want to. There are also five special cards that allow you to do everything from stealing another player's correct answer to challenging the leading player in a head-to-head trivia duel where you can change places if you win.

We love this game because the questions are interesting, the game play and strategy and interesting and exciting (unlike the tedious and overrated Trivial Pursuit which involves too much mindless die-rolling), and the luck that evens things out for the less knowledgable members of the family. We have owned this game for two years and it is still one of our favorites.

This was the new Thanksgiving/ Christmas game for 2003 - 04 for my family. The trivia was not too scholarly. The questions provide enough humor. The twist is deciding who gets to answer a question first. That is, in the end, the only difference Dibs has from other trivia games.

Because each question has at least five answers, this is a game that really needs at least four players.(When you take in the fact that someone has to sit out each turn to read a question) All the tricks of the cards like stealing opponents' answers or 'bogarting' them can only be enjoyed with at least four players. Also, some questions are just too simple to answer first , second or third.

If you have a family or group that likes standard trivia, they'll like Dibs.