This year's Game of the Year award from Games Magazine went to 25 Words or Less, a party word game from Winning Moves. Though the game falls prey to a cardinal sin of party games, it is nevertheless a fun activity for a small group.
25 Words or Less is essentially Name That Tune with words. Players split into two teams who vie to be the first to collect ten cards. Each card has five unrelated words on it. One representative from each time studies the card and then bids for the right to attempt it. The bids represent the number of words the cluegiver thinks it will take her to get her team to say all five words.
The representatives bid back and forth, each bid a lower value than the last, until one gives in and challenges the other to make their bid. The minute timer is flipped and the cluegiver starts. Her team can call out as many guesses as they like, but every word the cluegiver uses— including repetitions of the same word— is counted off by sliding the timer along a numbered track. No charades or gestures are allowed, but inflection (ala Password) can convey volumes.
If the team gets all five words before time expires, they earn the card. If they fail, or if the cluegiver uses more words than she bid, the opposing team gets the card.
Slower and more cerebral than Taboo (which was invented by the same person), 25 Words is less frantic. Which is actually it's biggest problem. The bidding process isn't very interesting for the rest of the players, and there's a strong tendency to study the card for a while to squeeze the best possible clues out of it. You may want to enforce a time limit on the bidding, with an automatic pass after 5 or 10 seconds.
As with Inklings, it's very satisfying to succeed with the smallest possible clue. Our group quickly gravitated to single-digit bids. We've had a couple of successful 6 bids, but the ultimate of 5 yet eludes us.