- Score sheets
- Word and party games
- Balderdash
How to score Balderdash
Balderdash scoring is the same every round: 1 point for each vote your bluff gets, 2 for picking the real answer, and 3 for the DASHER if nobody finds it. Each point moves you one space, and the first mover to reach Finish wins.
- 2 to 6 players
- A new DASHER each round
- First to Finish wins
- One space per point
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live, on Highest wins. Each round is a hand, and each TOTAL is how far that mover has gone.
Balderdash
- BGG #2406
- 60 min
A bluffing game: everyone invents a fake answer to an obscure question, about a word, a person, a set of initials, a movie or a law, then tries to spot the real one. Points come from fooling the table and from not being fooled.
Year, players, time and rank from BoardGameGeek.
How to play Balderdash, in brief
One player reads out an obscure word, person, set of initials, movie or law, and the others write fake answers that sound real. Fool them, spot the truth, and reach Finish first.
- Choose a DASHERPut the movers on Start. Whoever rolls highest is the first DASHER, who leads the round and rolls for the card’s category.
- Write your bluffsThe DASHER reads the question aloud and copies the real answer from the card. Everyone else writes a made-up answer and hands it in.
- Read and voteThe DASHER reads every answer aloud, the real one mixed in, twice. Going clockwise, each player votes for the one they think is real.
- Move and pass it onReveal the answer, score the votes and move one space per point, starting left of the DASHER. That player is the next DASHER.
Fool the table, or see through it.
Every point comes from the vote. Your bluff scores when someone else picks it, you score for picking the real answer yourself, and the DASHER scores when nobody does. Each point moves you one space.
What a round is worth
| For | Points |
|---|---|
| Each vote your bluff getsA vote for your own bluff is a fair trick, but it scores nothing | 1 |
| Picking the real answer | 2 |
| The DASHER, when nobody picks the real answerNothing if anyone finds it | 3 |
| Writing an answer very close to the real oneSet it aside: its writer sits out the vote. If two or more do it, each scores 3 and the round is called off | 3 |
| The round after you land on Double BluffLand exactly on the space and your next round’s points double | Doubled |
- Write, read, voteEveryone but the DASHER writes a bluff. The DASHER reads them all with the real answer mixed in, and each player votes once.
- Score the votes1 point for every vote your bluff gets from someone else, and 2 if you picked the real answer.
- Score the DASHER3 points if nobody picked the real answer. If anyone did, the DASHER scores nothing that round.
- Move in orderStarting with the player on the DASHER’s left and going clockwise, each mover goes one space per point. The game ends the moment a mover reaches Finish.
Round 10: nobody finds the real answer.
Jonas is the DASHER. You vote for Mara’s bluff, and Mara and Dev both vote for yours, so nobody picks the real definition. This is hand 10 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Why it scored | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Jonas | The DASHER, and nobody found the real answerThe DASHER’s 3 | 3 |
| You | Mara and Dev voted for your bluffA vote each: 1 + 1 | 2 |
| Mara | You voted for her bluffOne vote | 1 |
| Dev | No votes, and he picked your bluffNothing this round | 0 |
The board shows who’s ahead. Tabletales shows how.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. In Balderdash you move on the board as you score. Type each round’s points too, and Tabletales keeps the totals, so if the board gets bumped every mover can go back to the right space.
- A row for every roundSwitch to By hand and give each round its own row. Each TOTAL is how many spaces that mover should have gone.
- Votes on the keypadType each player’s points for the round, or type them the way you count them (a right guess and one vote is 2 + 1) and Tabletales adds it up. Double a Double Bluff round yourself, as 2 + 2.
- The board ends itSkip Play to a score: the Finish space ends the game. If two movers could finish in the same round, the one who moves first wins, so settle that at the table.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo from the table. Balderdash gets its own page: how often you play it, who with, and who wins.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Balderdash, with its scores
Common Balderdash scoring mistakes
- Paying the DASHER when someone found itThe DASHER scores 3 only when nobody picks the real answer.
- Counting a vote for your own bluffIt can fool the others, but it earns nothing.
- Forgetting Double BluffLand exactly on a Double Bluff space and your points double next round.
- Reading out an answer that is almost rightSet it aside instead. Its writer scores 3 and skips the vote.
Balderdash scoring, answered
- How do you score Balderdash?
- Each vote your bluff gets from another player is 1 point, picking the real answer is 2, and the DASHER scores 3 if nobody picks the real answer. Each point moves you one space.
- How do you win Balderdash?
- Be the first mover to reach the Finish space. Movers go one at a time from the DASHER’s left, so in a close round the one who moves first wins.
- How do you play Balderdash with 2 players?
- Take turns as DASHER, who writes one bluff and reads it with the real answer. If the guesser picks the bluff, the DASHER moves 3; if they pick the real answer, the guesser moves 2.
Balderdash score sheet
Print one for the table: six players and twenty rounds, the points each round and a running total, so every mover can find its space again if the board gets bumped.
Score another game
Tables differ on a same-round finish: Mattel’s rules go by moving order, while some house rules let everyone who reaches Finish that round win. Older Hasbro and Parker Brothers editions were not checked. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Mattel’s instructions, UltraBoardGames and Wikipedia. Balderdash is a trademark of Mattel. Tabletales is not affiliated with it.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
