Boggle (Word Factory)
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Mechanics and Guidelines:
Each team should provide 4 players and 4 substitutes (no gender preference). OBJECTIVE: To list, within 3 minutes, as many words of the highest point value as you can find among the random assortment of letters in the cube grid. PREPARATION: The game begins by shaking a covered tray of sixteen cubic dice, each with a different letter printed on each of its sides. The dice settle into a 4x4 tray so that only the top letter of each cube is visible. After they have settled into the grid, a three-minute sand timer is started and all players simultaneously begin the main phase of play. |
START OF GAME:
Each player searches for words that can be constructed from the letters of sequentially adjacent cubes, where "adjacent" cubes are those horizontally, vertically, and diagonally neighboring. Words must be at least three letters long, may include singular and plural (or other derived forms) separately, but may not use the same letter cube more than once per word. Each player records all the words he or she finds by writing on a private sheet of paper. After three minutes have elapsed, all players must immediately stop writing and the game enters the scoring phase.
SCORING:
In the scoring phase, each player reads off his or her list of discovered words. If two or more players wrote the same word, it is removed from all players' lists. Any player may challenge the validity of a word, in which case a previously nominated dictionary is used to verify or refute it. For all words remaining after duplicates have been eliminated, points are awarded based on the length of the word. The winner is the player whose point total is highest, with any ties typically broken by count of long words.
One cube is printed with "Qu." This is because Q is nearly always followed by U in English words (see exceptions), and if there were a Q in Boggle, it would be challenging to use if a U did not, by chance, appear next to it. For the purposes of scoring Qu counts as two letters: squid would score two points (for a five-letter word) despite being formed from a chain of only four cubes.
NO. OF LETTERS 3 4 5 6 7 8 or more
POINTS 1 1 2 3 5 11
TYPES OF WORDS ALLOWED:
Any words (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.), plural of, form of, or tense is acceptable as long as it can be found in a standard English dictionary (Scrabble dictionary is also applicable). Proper nouns (Smith, Ohio, France, etc.) are NOT allowed. Words within words are also permissible: spare, spa, par, are, spar, pare.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
· Multiple meanings of the same spelling do not earn multiple credit. For example, the word t-e-a-r for rip or cry counts only once.
· The same word found by a player in different areas of the grid may not be counted for multiple credit.
· The QU counts as two letters.
· Both the M and the W have a line under them.
· The Z has a line under it and should not be read as an N.
· You get full credit for both the singular and plural of a noun – as long as you wrote down both. See Figure 3: OIL and OILS.
· For the highest score, look for unusual words that others might miss – and that will earn you more points!
GAME FORMAT:
1. Each team lists down which player is P1, P2, P3, P4
2. All Px set of players draw which board they will play first, then P2-4 players moves to boards 2-4 after each round
3. 4 teams with 4 players each play round robin with 3 legs per round.
Each player searches for words that can be constructed from the letters of sequentially adjacent cubes, where "adjacent" cubes are those horizontally, vertically, and diagonally neighboring. Words must be at least three letters long, may include singular and plural (or other derived forms) separately, but may not use the same letter cube more than once per word. Each player records all the words he or she finds by writing on a private sheet of paper. After three minutes have elapsed, all players must immediately stop writing and the game enters the scoring phase.
SCORING:
In the scoring phase, each player reads off his or her list of discovered words. If two or more players wrote the same word, it is removed from all players' lists. Any player may challenge the validity of a word, in which case a previously nominated dictionary is used to verify or refute it. For all words remaining after duplicates have been eliminated, points are awarded based on the length of the word. The winner is the player whose point total is highest, with any ties typically broken by count of long words.
One cube is printed with "Qu." This is because Q is nearly always followed by U in English words (see exceptions), and if there were a Q in Boggle, it would be challenging to use if a U did not, by chance, appear next to it. For the purposes of scoring Qu counts as two letters: squid would score two points (for a five-letter word) despite being formed from a chain of only four cubes.
NO. OF LETTERS 3 4 5 6 7 8 or more
POINTS 1 1 2 3 5 11
TYPES OF WORDS ALLOWED:
Any words (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.), plural of, form of, or tense is acceptable as long as it can be found in a standard English dictionary (Scrabble dictionary is also applicable). Proper nouns (Smith, Ohio, France, etc.) are NOT allowed. Words within words are also permissible: spare, spa, par, are, spar, pare.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
· Multiple meanings of the same spelling do not earn multiple credit. For example, the word t-e-a-r for rip or cry counts only once.
· The same word found by a player in different areas of the grid may not be counted for multiple credit.
· The QU counts as two letters.
· Both the M and the W have a line under them.
· The Z has a line under it and should not be read as an N.
· You get full credit for both the singular and plural of a noun – as long as you wrote down both. See Figure 3: OIL and OILS.
· For the highest score, look for unusual words that others might miss – and that will earn you more points!
GAME FORMAT:
1. Each team lists down which player is P1, P2, P3, P4
2. All Px set of players draw which board they will play first, then P2-4 players moves to boards 2-4 after each round
3. 4 teams with 4 players each play round robin with 3 legs per round.
