Nab-It!
Nab-It! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 100 two-sided letter tiles (25 each of 4 colors)
- 4 gray bank tiles
- 4 letter bags
Object
Link tiles together to build words crossword-style. Stack tiles on other tiles to change words into different words. Try to "nab" (steal) words by stacking the highest tiles in the words. You score one point at the end of the game for each word that you control. To win, have the most points when the game ends.
The First Time You Play
Remove the letter tiles from the plastic bags. Discard or recycle the waste. Place the 25 tiles of each color in their matching-color letter bags. Place the 4 gray bank tiles aside.
Setting Up
- Sit at a table (or any other hard, flat surface) to play. Then all players set up their tiles and bags as described below.
- Choose a color, then take the bag of that color with the 25 matching tiles inside. This will be your color throughout the game.
- Take one gray bank tile and place it near your tile bag. This special tile is used for scoring only. (More about this later.)
About the Tiles
Your tiles are specially shaped so that they can be linked and stacked.
(The sheet illustrates two tile uses with captions "Linking" and "Stacking".)
Playing
Draw five tiles from your bag and line them up in front of you. Each player does the same. It doesn't matter if the other players can see your tiles.
Each of your tiles (except for the blank) shows a letter on each side. The letter in the corner is the letter that appears on the opposite side. You can play either side of a tile on your turn.
The blank: Each player has one blank tile. You may play your blank as any letter. After doing so, declare the letter it represents. It stays that letter for the rest of the game.
Getting started: The youngest player goes first. If that's you, link two or more of your tiles in the center of the play area to form a word. Then draw more tiles from your bag to replenish to five tiles. Play then passes to your left.
Example 1: The yellow player starts by linking four tiles together to create GAME.
On Your Turn
-
Add one or more of your tiles to previously-played tiles to create one or more new words. You do this by linking and/or stacking your tiles. This ends your turn, unless you nabbed one or more words (see Nabbing).
Example 2 shows how a player links and stacks to create two new words. Green stacks T on G, then links R and Y to create TAME and TRY.
-
If you nabbed one or more words on your turn, you may bank one tile before ending your turn. See Nabbing and Banking, below.
Stacking
Follow the rules below when stacking tiles:
- Never stack a tile directly onto a tile of the same letter. For example, you can't stack an R directly on top of another R.
- Never cover an entire word on one turn by stacking a tile on every letter. At least one letter from the previous word must appear in the new word.
- Never place more than one tile on the same stack on one turn.
- Never place tiles in more than one row or column on one turn.
- Never create a stack that's more than five tiles high.
Rotating the Game
You can easily turn the game to face you by holding, pressing and turning any of the higher stacks.
Nabbing
Nabbing is the name of the game, because it's how you score points! You nab a word from another player by stacking the highest tile in that word. In Example 2, Green nabbed GAME by changing it to TAME. Green now controls that word, but control may (and probably will) change hands several times more before the game ends!
On each turn that you nab, you get to bank one tile for an extra point (see Banking).
Banking
Banking is referred to in the rules ("See Nabbing and Banking, below"; "bank one tile for an extra point"), but the Banking rule text itself is not visible in the photographed side of the sheet and is not transcribed here.