Catch Phrase Game: The Rules and the Electronic Editions

What the Catch Phrase game is

Catch Phrase is a team word-guessing game run by a handheld electronic unit. The unit shows a word or phrase. You describe it any way you can, without saying it, until a teammate shouts the answer. Then you hand the unit to the player beside you, who's on the other team, and it's their turn to describe. A hidden timer counts down the whole time. Whoever is holding the unit when the buzzer goes off loses the round.

That's the whole hook. It's a race, but you're not racing the clock so much as racing to get rid of the unit. It plays like hot potato with a vocabulary.

The box facts at a glance, from Hasbro's rule sheets for the classic handheld (B7389) and the tossable edition (E9580):

• Players: 4 or more, in two teams
• Ages: 12 and up
• Contents: the game unit and instructions
• Batteries: 3 AAA 1.5V alkaline, not included
• Goal: first team to 7 points
• Style: team versus team, no cards, no board

People sometimes search for a Catch Phrase board game. None of the listings in our data has a board; the electronic unit is the whole game. There's no score pad to lose either. Score lives on the unit itself: buttons on the classic handheld, sliders on the tossable edition. The only setup is batteries and chairs.

How Catch Phrase plays

The rules below are in my own words, from two Hasbro rule sheets: the classic Catch Phrase handheld (B7389, printed 2015) and the newer tossable edition (E9580, printed 2019). They share the same core. The differences come after the turn section.

Seating and setup

1. Split into two teams.
2. Sit in a circle so the teams alternate: every player has someone from the other team on each side.
3. Pick a starting team and a first player, and hand them the unit.
4. Wake the unit and set both scores to 0.

The alternating circle is the part people skip, and it matters. The rules expect you to hand the unit to an opponent the instant your team guesses. If your teammate is next to you, the pass goes nowhere.

A round, start to finish

1. Pick a category with the category button.
2. Start the timer. A word or phrase appears on the screen.
3. Describe it to your team. Gestures are fine. Almost any spoken clue is fine.
4. When a teammate says it, pass the unit to the next player, who is on the other team.
5. That player checks your answer was right, then calls up a new word and starts describing to their team.
6. Keep going around until the buzzer sounds.

The round is one long relay. The timer doesn't reset between words, and nobody can see how much time is left. That's the whole tension. You can be calm with the first word and frantic with the fifth, and the unit doesn't care either way.

The three banned clues

Both rule sheets list the same three:

• Saying a word that rhymes with the answer
• Giving the first letter
• Saying part of the answer, like one word of a two-word phrase

If the other team catches one, stop the timer. They get the point for the round. My seventh graders would rhyme everything if I let them. This rule would end their careers.

Scoring and winning

When the buzzer sounds, the team that is not holding the unit gets 1 point. They also get one shot at a bonus: if they can guess the word the other team was stuck on, that's a second point. Enter the points on the unit. The team that was caught holding it starts the next round.

First team to 7 points wins. With a bonus available every round, a game can turn fast.

Both rule sheets also give a tip I like. If you don't know a phrase, break it into pieces and clue each piece, then put them back together. It works better than repeating the whole phrase louder, which is my natural instinct.

Mix-ups the rule sheets settle

A few arguments come up every game. Both rule sheets have an answer:

• Who checks the answer? The opponent who receives the unit. They look at the screen before calling up the next word.
• Who starts the next round? The team that got caught holding the unit.
• Can you skip a word? The classic sheet doesn't mention skipping. It describes the NEXT button only for calling up a word after a correct guess. The tossable sheet's answer is the 15-second pass, below.
• Can you change category mid-round? Not on the tossable unit. Its rule sheet says the category locks while the timer runs, so the word always matches the category you picked.
• What about a banned clue on the last second? Stop the timer as soon as you catch it. The other team takes the point, buzzer or not.

What the tossable edition changes

The E9580 rule sheet keeps the same goal, the same banned clues and the same scoring, including the bonus point. Four things change:

• Tossing, not passing. You toss the unit to the next player instead of handing it over. The rules even suggest everyone step back for more challenge.
• A 90-second timer. The classic rule sheet runs a 60-second timer per round.
• A 15-second nudge. If your team hasn't guessed after 15 seconds, the unit beeps three times and tells you to pass to a teammate. You toss it to someone on your own team, and they get a new word.
• Categories. Its five are Around the World, Fun and Games, On the Air, Snack Time and The Great Outdoors. The classic handheld lists Entertainment, Everyday Life, Fun & Games, The World and Variety.

The instructions page says it holds 5,000 words and phrases. It also starts with a rule about who goes first: the player with the biggest hands. It's the only rulebook I own that measures hands. I have average hands. I have never once gone first.

You can pause the tossable unit mid-round with the category button, which the rule sheet points out. That's useful when somebody's dinner timer goes off in the kitchen.

Catch Phrase editions on Amazon US right now

Our data for this page lists 6 Catch Phrase listings on Amazon US as of October 2026. Every one is electronic and a word-guessing party game, and none is an expansion. The table above shows what each listing states. Here's how they differ:

• Hasbro Catch Phrase Electronic. Listed 12+, 4 or more players.
• Hasbro Catch Phrase. Listed 12+, 4 or more players.
• Hasbro Catch Phrase, with an exclamation point in the listing name. Listed 18+, 4 or more players. The listing doesn't say why its age is higher, and I won't guess.
• Two listings for the newer edition. One lists 12+; the other doesn't state an age or player count. Their listing names carry the same edition name as Hasbro's E9580 rule sheet.
• WS Game Company Catch Phrase Vintage Bookshelf Edition. Listed under that edition name, 12+, 4 or more players, and still electronic.

The listings don't give play times or batteries for every box, so check the full listing before buying, and assume you need AAA batteries. Both Hasbro rule sheets we read call for them.

If you want the tossing and the 15-second pass, pick one of the two newer-edition listings. If you want the game the way the classic rule sheet describes it, with handing and a 60-second timer, pick a Hasbro Catch Phrase or Catch Phrase Electronic listing. If the box is a gift for someone who collects classic games, the Vintage Bookshelf Edition is the one with an edition name to match.

Which Catch Phrase box fits your table

My one opinion for this page: buy for your usual group size, not the biggest number on the box. Catch Phrase says 4 or more, and that's honest. But think about your real crowd. With four, each team has one describer and one guesser, and every round is a two-person sprint. With eight or ten, the circle is bigger, each person describes less often, and the game gets louder and slower to come around to you.

A few quick matches, from the listings:

• A family with kids 12 and up: a Catch Phrase or Catch Phrase Electronic listing at 12+
• A group that likes to move: the newer tossable edition
• A gift for someone's game shelf: the Vintage Bookshelf Edition
• A grown-up crowd: any of them; the one 18+ listing is labeled for adults

For an odd number of players, the rules don't fix teams of equal size. Our fix: the bigger team describes in turn order, and the smaller team gets the bonus guess every round instead of just the round they win. It evens things out. It's our rule, not Hasbro's.

Marisol's take: "A 60-second timer is a measurement. Shouting doesn't change it." She describes every word in complete sentences, and her team still wins about half the time.

Who should skip Catch Phrase

Skip it if your group is fewer than four. The rule sheets and listings all say 4 or more, in two teams, and three players can't make two teams.

Skip it if your table includes kids under 12. Most listings say 12+, and the words are pitched at teens and adults. For younger players, look at charades, which some boxes list from age 5.

Skip it if your group doesn't like being rushed or put on the spot. The whole game is pressure. Someone who freezes when talking in front of people will spend the night holding the unit. A drawing game or a slower word game is kinder.

And skip it if you want a quiet game. There's no quiet version.

If you like Catch Phrase, look at these

Pages chosen by what they share with Catch Phrase: word clues, teams and a timer.

• Taboo: describing a word while avoiding a list of banned words
• Charades: the same idea with no talking at all
• Hedbanz: guessing the card on your own head
• Codenames: one-word clues for a team
• Party games: the wider shelf for crowds

All of the editions here are made by Hasbro except the Vintage Bookshelf Edition. See the brand page for the rest of the Hasbro lineup.

Batteries in, chairs alternating, and nobody rhymes.