Outwit your opponents in GibGab! Source: Fat Brain Toys

Can you gib faster than your opponent can gab?

Picture this: You’re taking turns naming colors against an opponent. Neither of you can repeat a color or say a word that doesn’t fit the color category. You’re running through every color of the rainbow in your head, moving on to names like lavender and magenta until you run out and have to say more obscure options, such as vermilion or viridian (thank you, Kanto region of Pokémon). The clock is ticking. You wonder to yourself, “What colors haven’t I named yet?” A bead of sweat drips down your face. “Why haven’t I learned more colors?” You can’t think of what to say. “What are colors?” Beeeeeep.

That is a very dramatic reenactment of what it feels like to play GibGab.

This fast-paced game from Fat Brain Toys is made for players agers 8 and up and challenges you to just spit out an answer as fast as you can! This head-to-head game requires two players and encourages quick thinking, memory skills, and concentration.

The game itself is a long rectangle with rounded edges that has two colors on either side: blue and green. The lights on the game board in between the two sides will light up either blue or green — half yours, half your opponent’s color. The object of the game is to get your color of the game unit to reach the other side.

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The suspense during GibGab is REAL. | Source: Fat Brain Toys

To start, players will position themselves at either end of the GibGab game. Facing each other, they will choose one of the categories from the provided cards, such as types of flowers, pro football teams, U.S. presidents, and a lot more. The first player begins the game by saying a word that matches the chosen category and then pressing their button. The light will begin to creep toward their opponent. Now, it’s the other player’s turn to say a word and send their color moving back toward the first player. Keep on going until the one player’s color reaches the other side. 

The game lasts no longer than a couple of minutes because the rounds move along pretty quickly. If a player cannot come up with something to say — they have a brain fart, if you will — then the light will continue creeping toward their side. There are three levels of difficulty: Players can set the lights to move move either two seconds, one second, or half a second per light.

Playing this game made me feel like I was on a game show. If you are competing in a group and go head-to-head with someone, nerves can come through with an audience watching you. The drama of hitting the button, or what I’d like to call a buzzer, after you name something is a glorious feeling, especially if something was on the tip of your tongue. And, don’t think the pressure will get to ya! Heck, I play with toys for a living and when the topic of “board games” came up, I totally froze after a certain point!

If you want your next game night to be filled with a heart-racing, high-pressure challenge, then look no further than GibGab.

About the author

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik

Maddie Michalik was the Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book from 2020-2022. She was also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider.

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