GB2324478A - Word game - Google Patents

Abstract

Word game apparatus comprises tiles or similar playing pieces carrying on their faces insignia which are letters of the alphabet, the tiles belonging to two distinguishable classes which are vowels and consonants so that a player can choose a tile knowing only that it is a vowel or a consonant. The apparatus also comprises blank or "joker" tiles. In use the tiles make up words, the joker can be "stolen" after it is played by substitution and played words can be "stolen".

Description

Word Game The present invention relates to a game using letters to make words by a unique combination of methods and rules which makes it a competitive and challenging contest, whether played at one extreme between children who have just learnt to read, or at the other between lexicographers. It can be played by 2 to 6 players as individuals or as partnerships. e.g. an adult and a child sitting alongside. It is considered that it is educational in teaching the spelling and meaning of words by encouraging the use of dictionaries or asking others, when words are being formed or altered.

The game requires a set of individual letters that could be made of plastic, card or other material. These are marked on the back by colours or other markers so that, when face down a player can distinguish between the vowels and the consonants.

In addition there are a small number (e.g. 2) of unmarked, jokers, that can represent any letter. The game also requires a set of supports or stands for a player's letters to be placed facing the player. These stands are to hold a small number of letters, preferably 5.

The game starts with shuffling all the letters face down in a pool. Each player then draws 3 consonants and 2 vowels (assuming that the stands are for 5 letters). After a suitable start each player in turn: (1) may form a word of 3 to 5 letters from letters on the player's stand placing it on the table in front of him as his word, or (2) the player may take another person's or extend a word of own by adding a letter or letters from his stand, with or without changing the order of the letters in the word taken, or (3) he may change any letter for a Joker in the Pool or the right letter for a Joker in a word on the table, or finally (4) he may change any letters from his stand with others drawn from the Pool. After a turn letters used from a stand in making or taking words are replenished from the Pool until that is exhausted. The game is then ended after extra turns to use up, if possible, letters in hand.

At the end of the game scoring is based on the length of words (e.g.-4 letters counts 1.

5-9 letters 2, 10-14 letters 3, etc).The player with the highest score wins. The fact that scoring takes place only at the end of a game means that fortunes can fluctuate greatly as words are taken, which adds interest and excitement to the game.

There are a number of established word games on the market. The best known. such as "Scrabble", "Upword" and "Lastword" use boards and "Boggle" uses a frame.

These fix the position of letters in play, although in Upwords some of these letters can be changed. This use of boards or a frame puts these games into a very different category from this invention.

There are other games such as "Lexicon", "Rummikub Play on Words" in which players do not acquire words as in this invention, but :in "Lexicon" try to get rid of letters in hand, especially the common ones, by putting them in words without changing the order of the letters and in "Play on Words" try to make, one long word in each turn, if possible clearing the letters on their stand in making other words-.

also using other words on the table for this purpose.

Finally there are or were two games that more closely resemble this invention. One is or was an old Victorian game using letters in which words were formed from a pool of letters turned up by successive players or by players after making a word. Letters from the pool could be used to make words or to take players' words already on the table, changing the order of the letters if necessary. But players did not have letters of their own, as in this invention, which enable them to plan moves in advance whereas letters turned up in a Pool are always changing. Nor did they have the advantage of being able to choose between drawing a vowel and a consonant. Other rules, such as the use of Jokers, were also different.

The other modern game of this kind is "Anagram", but here again letters are not held by players but turned up in a pool for use to form or take a word by anyone who shouts out first. Players can also shout 'Anagram' at any time to take a word by making one. Again no letters are held in hand and players do not have the choice between vowels and consonants. There are many other differences in the Rules.

There is one known game in which players have a choice between vowels and consonants. This is played like the well-known Channel 4 Television Programme "Countdown" in which players compete to form the longest word from a set of 9 letters, chosen from stacks of vowels and consonants. This makes it a very different game. For example, players do not have their own letters.

Example 1) The Game: is played around a table forming and taking words with letters of which the consonants have different coloured backs from the vowels. There are also two blanks or Jokers which can represent any letter. It is played between from 2 to 6 players playing individually or as teams. A team may be a child player backed by an adult, thus involving whole families. It is also suitable for different levels of spelling ability because checking with smaller dictionaries is allowed during play, to help with spelling.

2) The Start: A pool of mixed consonants and vowels is placed face down in the middle of the table and shuffled. From this, each player draws 3 consonants and 2 vowels and puts them on his/her stand. The one with the lowest letter (nearest to A) or, if equal, the next lowest letter starts by putting down in front of him a word of 3, 4 or 5 letters. The player then replaces these with vowels or consonants as he/she wishes. If unable to put down, the player may replace any of the 5 letters in hand with ones drawn from the pool.

3) Play: Play continues in turns clockwise. During a turn, a player may make one only of the following moves: (a) Take an opponent's word on the table by adding a letter or letters from hand, with or without changing the order of the letters in the word taken, except that no word may be taken just by adding an S at the end even if the order of letters is changed (b) Put down a word of 3 to 5 letters from those in hand.

(c) Add a letter or letters from hand to one of his/her own words.

(d) Exchange 1 to 5 letters with ones drawn from the pool.

The object of play is to achieve the highest score (see below).

(e) 1 )Exchange Joker in Pool for one letter or 2) Exchange Joker in a word for the letter it represents.

4) The End: When the Pool is exhausted or expiry of the time allowed for the game is imminent, there should then be two more quick rounds (allowing 30 seconds and 25 seconds per turn) using up letters in hand.

5) Scoring Words held at the end of the game count according to length: 3-5 letters: 1; 6-10 letters : 2; 11-15 letters :3, etc. The highest total wins.

Claims (7)

Claims

1. A game in which players make, take and hold words which comprises a plurality of letters and a stand on which the letters can be placed so the letter can only be seen by that player, the letters having vowels and consonants on them are able to be distinguished from each other when face down, the game being played by each player having a plurality of the letters which are positioned so each player sees only his own letters, the play being carried out by a player placing at least some of his letters on a playing surface to form a word which becomes that player's word, the next player either forming his own word from his letters or adding a letter or letters to a word already formed, optionally re-arranging the letters to form a new word, this new word becoming that player's word after which a player can select a consonant or a vowel as that player chooses.

2. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which there is at least one letter which is blank and which can be used in play as a letter of the player's choice.

3. A game as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the tokens which have a consonant on one side are a different colour from those which have a vowel on one side.

4. A game as claimed in claim 3 in which the tokens are made of a plastics material.

5. A game as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which after a player has had a go the each player takes tokens from a stock pile to replenish his/her stock and the game continues until there are no tokens left or until a pre-set time or event, the player with the most points is deemed the winner.

6. A game as claimed in claim 5 in which the words have a different value according to their length.

7. A game as hereinbefore described with reference to the Example.