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Letter Based Word Games by Mechanic - List #5 - Rearranging
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I would like to suggest 5 mechanics for letter-based word games. Some games may involve aspects of several mechanics, but usually one of them impacts the score more than the others. For example, Jarnac involves simple word formation, but the game is won by rearranging and expanding those words to increase their point value. 1. Recognition - identify words from a jumble of letters. Players are not allowed to manipulate the letters, only observe them ( Boggle). 2. Simple Word Formation - here players form words from their own pool of letters without using other players' letters or being concerned about board position ( Quiddler). 3. Complex Word Formation - players form words, but they may/must also use letters from already played words. Crosswords style games dominate this category ( Scrabble). Are there other games where you play off of already exposed letters, but that DON'T involve cross-word style play? 4. Guessing - players try to discover words formed and hidden by other players ( Hangman, Probe). 5. Rearrangment - players may begin with simple word formation or recognition, but the real scoring opportunities are offered by rearranging existing letters to form more valuable words ( Jarnac, Word Search). You can access these lists from my Metalist at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listi...List #5: REARRANGINGIn which games do players score primarily by rearranging letters into more valuable words? These games may involve word-formation to begin with, but the real points involve rearranging existing letters.
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Posted Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:57 am
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1.
Board Game: Jarnac
[Average Rating:7.11 Overall Rank:2287]
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Jarnac is probably the best Word Game I've EVAR played! Players draw tiles to form words on up to 9 rows (no crossword features). In later turns, players expand these words by rearranging and adding letters, increasing their score. The genius of this game is that immediately upon ending your turn, your opponent can steal one of your words by identifying an expansion/rearrangement you could have made but missed.
The game encourages you to pay careful attention to your opponent's plays, while encouraging you to play quickly so as to afford less time for your opponent to study your board. Brilliant!
Unfortunately for our game nights, it's only two-player (not that it would work with more...).
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While largely a word-recognition game, Wordsearch (or Word Search, same game) rewards those who can make more valuable words by sliding the letter tablets into new locations.
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This one is made by a local game company and is sold around the northwest. It's made up of a rather large deck of cards with letters and the card's value (ala Scrabble). Words are played in the common area and scored. Anyone can pick up the already played words and mix them into their hand and play a new word.
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Thanks to ThatMarkGuy for suggesting this one!
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5.
Board Game: Take 4
[Average Rating:7.50 Unranked]
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This one blurs the lines a bit...it's a simple word formation game in that it doesn't involve playing off of other players' letters, worrying about board position, or stealing other players letters/words. It's a complex word formation game in that it involves building a crossword structure to which you add on subsequent rounds (quasi-persistant board position). However, it's a rearrangement game since you can scramble your puzzle at any time and form new words!
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6.
Board Game: Syzygy
[Average Rating:6.28 Overall Rank:3399]
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Syzygy is my favourite word game and it fits into at least three of the categories, but I find the key mechanic of this game is the ability of the player to rearrange their tiles at any time during the game.
Each player gets a set of ten letter tiles and must form crosswords using the letters. Once one player has finished with their letters they say "go" or something similar and each player must draw three more tiles to add to their crossword. It is easy to become stumped if you draw bad tiles, and that is when you can take away a few words from your puzzle or destroy the whole thing to start over.
A very fun, simple and quick word game for all ages!
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Jarnac's predecessor from 1934, but for more players...
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Word Jumble meets Trivial Pursuit...
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10.
Board Game: Snare
[Average Rating:4.83 Unranked]
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From the game's description:
You have three minutes to unscramble theletters to form a word. Roll the dice to see if you unscramble a 1 -5 letter word or miss a turn. The more letters unscrambled the higher the points.
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From the game's description:
As you move around the board, players try and figure out what word you read off the cards that is spelt backwards.
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From the game's description:
You unscramble words or fill-in missing letters to solve "Word Puzzlers" - and 1 of every 5 cards is a RACE card, where all players RACE to answer.
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From the game's description:
The game starts by dealing out the entire deck of alphabet cards to the players, who place them face-up in front of themselves.
After seeding the tray with a 4 or 5 letter word, a free-for-all ensues, where each player may play 1 or 2 of their letters to change the current word to another valid word (LIVE to LIKE, for example). Players who cannot create new words may steal letters from in front of other players, replacing them with any of their own.
The winner is the first to get rid of all their cards.
The educational (and the "Keep Quiet") part of the game comes from the optional use of sign language alphabet symbols to replace the letter cards.
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From the game's description:
Play On Words is a 2-4 player card game played in the course of 10 rounds.
The object of each round is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards. Your hand is made up of eleven cards, each with a letter on it in one of three colors (blue, green, or red), in addition to several wild cards scattered throughout the deck.
To get rid of your cards you must first meet the goal of the round, which is to play a particular number of pure or mixed words (made up of letters of one color entirely or a combination of colors, respectively) as determined by a set of included cards.
Once a player has made their first goal, they can then get rid of their remaining cards by changing their own words or those of their opponents, by inserting letters, covering letters, or adding prefixes or suffixes. First person to get rid of their entire hand wins the round and scores the points for every card remaining in his/her opponents' hands. Highest score after ten rounds is the winner.
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From the game's description:
Stealing is legal in wordXchange, the all-new anagram game that pits you against your rivals and against the clock in an all-out battle to make and keep words. The winner is the first to make and line up six words. The catch? No word is safe! You can steal words made by your opponents, add one or more letters and reshuffle them into one of your own. As the words multiply, the possibilities are endless. Plus, wordXchange "ain't over 'til it's over," as any player can come from behind by stealing his opponents' words. And the game is lightning fast. You can play an entire round in less than thirty minutes. wordXchange takes strategy and quick thinking. wordXchange is simply...a battle to the last word!
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Posted Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:35 pm
Looking forward to it!
Vince
Snatch
Best word game I've ever played. Not that I've played that many, but hey.
Jarnac sounds a little like this, except Snatch has no limitations - just turn one tile over at a time, steal other people's words whenever you can.