Wordsy is a game my game designer husband brought home to me because he thought I'd like it. (Plus it says "Unabridged" on the box, so there's that.)
I do like it, but even in a game about words he can still beat me and I don't like that. So it hasn't solved our game problem as far as finding something that I'll always agree to play with him. {wink}
Family Game Night #30: Wordsy
Wordsy is played with a grid of letter cards. These cards are all consonants and the grid tells you how many points each letter is worth (some consonants are difficult to use and are therefore worth more points).
Your job making a word using as many of those consonants as you can and in a way that maximizes each letter's value.
How to Play Wordsy
As mentioned, there's a grid of 4 columns with two letter cards in each column. There are seven rounds of play.
In the grid you can never have more than 2 "rare" letters. (Rare letters are the darker gold cards you see above.) If you deal out more than two, you remove one and deal a new card.
After each round you remove the four cards on the right (from the 3 and 2 point columns). You slide the letters remaining over and deal out four more.
There's also a benefit to being the fastest player to write down your word - but only if your word is the highest scoring. You can't be the fastest two rounds in a row.
After all seven rounds you add up your points. Players drop their two lowest scores, add all other scores together, and add in any bonuses.
The rules include a few variations for playing, including a solo player version and a variant with no time limit.
Summary of Wordsy
Number of Players: 1-6
Recommended Ages: 10+
Reading Required: Yes. But you can play with younger players by "handicapping" the adults, which is a variation explained in the rule book. Younger players still need to know some basic spelling.
You do not need to be a perfect speller to play Wordsy. Spelling can be corrected during the scoring phase of each round (although spelling errors might make your word lose a few points).
A fun variation for kids might just be to deal out the letter cards and see what words they can come up with.
Do you have a favorite word related board game? Any Scrabble fans out there?
(Scrabble has a reputation as a declaration of war in my family, akin to Monopoly. So we usually avoid it. But it may show up in a future Family Game Night post anyway. And we have a few other word game favorites that are coming soon.)
