Quick! Pass a deck of 40 randomly chosen celebrity name cards from team to team. The clue-giver has a mere 30 seconds to communicate the identities of as many cards as possible, using words, pantomime, and sound effects. The round continues until all names have been guessed. Give each team a point for each card they've won, then take all the cards back--you'll need them for the next two rounds. In the second round, you're only allowed to say one word per name card, and in the third and final round you must make do with no words at all. The team with the highest total of all three rounds wins. A good memory and rudimentary acting ability will bring you success, and the 864 name cards assure you many merry moments.

This is one of the best party games that has ever been designed. Our family has been playing it since the beginning of time. We called it Celebrities, and played by having each person write out several celebrities names on small sheets of paper. But the professional produced version removes this first step. All you do is shuffle the cards, deal out the right number, and start playing!

For those of you who do not know Celebrities... read on

Celebrities (and Time's Up) is played in teams of two. When it is your turn, you have 30 seconds to go through as many cards as possible. The goal is to get your partner to say the name of the people on the cards you draw. You get 1 point per card. There are three rounds in the game. During each round, you are allowed to do something different when trying to get your partner to name the person on the card you drew:

Round 1) Taboo: you may say anything you want except for he names on the card. 2) Password: you may only say 1 word along with gestures 3) Charades: you may not say anything. All you can do is gesture.

You go through the same names during each round, so the players get increasingly familiar with the names that are in the game. The fun part of the game is that players will refer to previous rounds in order to communicate who is on the card. So there will be a lot of self-referential inside jokes that take place during the game. Hilarity is bound to follow.

I've played this game with four different groups of people, from serious gamers to casual players, and all have enjoyed it immensely. The obscurity of many of the names to be guessed can be daunting at first (who the heck is "Salada"?), but as other reviewers have noted, the more challenging cards often result in the most clever, and funniest, clues. At first we thought the 30-seconds-per-round rule must be a misprint, but we discovered this was just the right amount of time, especially after players have seen the cards several times. It was only because of the many positive reviews that I took a chance and bought this game, and I'm glad I did. For people who aren't afraid to act silly, this is a top-notch game that will have you laughing out loud.

We played with an extra round at the end which was great fun. No words or sounds or movement was allowed. Essentially it was just a freeze frame shot, so the partner had to close his eyes and be told to open them when ready. We found it a brilliant addition to the game.