Verbàlia, el joc

Verbàlia, el joc Rulebook

Table of Contents

Constitution

Verbàlia is a Mental State. Each time a verbivore plays a word game, they redefine its sovereignty. Here is the Constitution.

The Constitution of the Mental State of Verbàlia merely regulates a string of mutations and permutations of words, establishing its legislative foundations.

The executive power in Verbàlia is exercised by the verbivores. The judicial power is the dictionary, which establishes the validity of words.

The ABC of Verbàlia

A — Referee (d'Àrbitre). We recommend the DIEC, the dictionary of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans. You can find it in paper form in bookshops and libraries. If you want a more portable (or mobile) version, search for it on the internet: dlc.iec.cat.

B — Good words (de Bones). The words we accept as good in Verbàlia games are all those that have an entry in the reference dictionary. Unless we indicate otherwise, this includes its normative plural and feminine forms, as well as all the forms that appear in the verb conjugation according to the chosen model.

C — Grammatical categories (de Categories Gramaticals). In games that distinguish adjectives, nouns and verbs, only those adjectives that are participles are accepted when they have an adjective entry in the dictionary (DESAFINAT yes, DIBUIXAT no). The same criterion applies to participles and nominalised infinitives (DESCOBERT and BEURE yes, DESPLEGAT and PIXAR no, MENJADA yes but MENJAT no). See R for Rules.

D — Bad words (de Dolentes). Words considered bad, that is, not valid, are proper nouns, acronyms, chemical symbols, and words in other languages that have no entry in the reference dictionary, as is usual in word games based on common vocabulary.

E — Age (d'Edat). We do not specify it for each game, because all of them are for children aged 8 and up and for adults. See I for Children.

F — Easel (de Faristol). In many games you can play with the letters or syllables face up or hidden. Use the easels when convenient, provided you agree before starting the game.

G — Gender (de Gènere). Our respect for players of both sexes is as undeniable as our feeling for the authenticity of our language. In Catalan, as in other Romance languages, gender is an opposition in which one of the two grammatical genders (the so-called masculine) functions as the unmarked term with respect to sex, and the other (the so-called feminine) as the marked term. Therefore, when we speak of players in Verbàlia, we refer to the players of both sexes who make up the verbivore community.

I — Children (d'Infantil). Most Verbàlia games allow a simple adaptation so they can be played with the youngest members of the household. Three examples: 1) in general, children may play with permission to consult the dictionary; 2) in timed games, children may have twice the time that adults have; 3) in syllable games, all syllables of three letters may be discarded. If you want to play with children under eight years old, we invite you to propose the Vailetosíl·laB to them. See R for Rules and T for Time.

L — Letters (de Lletres). Letter tiles always carry one letter, but there are also tiles that are digraphs: NY and QU. There are no tiles for K, nor for Y on its own, nor for W. There is a tile for Ç. Finally, to write L·L you must join two L tiles.

M — Markers (de Marcadors). Markers are versatile pieces that perform quite diverse functions in the different games. You have surely seen them in all colours. In some games their colour counts. In others, we indicate that you may use them interchangeably, because colour makes no difference.

N — Not counted (de No compten). In Verbàlia we follow the tradition of crosswords and other grid-based word games. Therefore, neither accents, diaeresis nor hyphens count.

O — Objective (d'Objectiu). In Verbàlia games the objective can be of different types: to build the longest word, the most valuable or the most beautiful... In all games, however, the objective is to spend a good time.

P — Syllabic division (de Partició Sil·làbica). In all syllabic games the tiles must remain syllables in the words formed, according to the rules of syllabic division. This means that PER + O does not make PERÒ, nor CIM + ES make CIMES. Only if the players agree is a division of the words in play accepted that does not correspond to the syllabic division established by the grammatical norm.

Q — Who starts? (Qui comença?). The first player will always keep the scoring for the game. To decide who starts you can do it at random, but you can also choose one of these six verbivore qualifications:

Q1. The players write a word on paper. The player who wrote the second longest word starts. In case of a tie, alphabetical order wins.
Q2. The player born in a month without an R starts. If there is more than one, the order of the months in the calendar counts. If there is still a tie, the order of the days counts. If they were born on the same day, they kiss.
Q3. The players write their mobile phone number and add up its digits. The second one wins. In case of a tie, the first one to call the other wins.
Q4. The player with more letter As in their first surname starts. If there is a tie, whoever has more Es, and so on up to U. SERRA beats COMAS but loses to GARRIGA.
Q5. The player with more letters in alphabetical order in their first surname starts. SERRA has only one, because the letters that follow S are earlier; GARRIGA has two (G-R); COMAS has three (C-M-S). COMAS starts. In case of a tie, the second surnames are compared.
Q6. All players take a syllable from the bag and look at which one comes first in alphabetical order.

R — Rules (de Regles). The rules may be agreed before each game. In fact, in many games we propose different ways of playing.

S — Syllables (de Síl·labes). There are two types of syllable tiles: those with one syllable and those with two. The syllables that are hardest to place give a second option on the back. These tiles are two-coloured. In many games this distinction has no value. In some others it has all the value.

T — Time (de Temps). We recommend a stopwatch, for example the one on your mobile phone, as long as you are able to agree on its tempo. In some games the time for each play can be lengthened or shortened depending on the linguistic skills of the players, because the level of difficulty changes radically when more time is given.

V — Variable (de Variable). Verbàlia is variable, so most games readily admit the creation of variants. Variants are the very essence of verbal play.

W — Web (de Web). Tell us your experiences with Verbàlia games on the web at www.verbalia-eljoc.cat.

The Components (Els materials)

Verbàlia, el joc consists of several elements with which more than fifty games can be played. These elements are the following:

The board of Verbàlia, divided into regions (nouns, adjectives, verbs) of different values.
The board of the wood (l'arbreda) and the board of the square (la plaça), used in some games.
200 letters.
136 syllable tiles, of which 68 have one syllable and the other 68 have two.
120 wooden markers in six different colours.
2 cloth bags.
6 easels.
Blank notebooks for taking notes and recording the score.
Pencils.
This rulebook.

Letters (Les lletres)

The set contains 200 letters:

Letter	Count	Letter	Count	Letter	Count	Letter	Count	Letter	Count
A	22	B	4	C	6	Ç	2	D	6
E	24	F	2	G	4	H	2	I	16
J	2

Total = 200 letters.

Syllables (Les síl·labes)

The set contains 136 syllable tiles (68 with one syllable and 68 with two), which make 204 syllables in total. The table gives the number of tiles for each syllable:

Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles	Syllable	Tiles
A	6	AL	1	AR	1	AS	1	BA	3	BE	1	BI

Total = 136 tiles = 204 syllables.

The First Visit (La Primera Visita)

Buscador

Players: 2–6. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The letters.
Five markers of the same colour for each player.
One easel for each player.
Two cloth bags.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

Each player takes five markers of the same colour. The letters are separated into vowels and consonants. The vowels go into one bag and the consonants into the other. The board is placed in the middle of the table, and one letter is drawn at random and placed face up in each of the regions. These initial letters are half vowels and half consonants. Each player takes three letters from between the two bags. It is decided who starts the game.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player performs two actions from the following:

a) take a letter from the bag of their choice and place it on their easel (a player can hold up to eight letters on the easel);
b) take a letter from the bag of their choice and leave it in the region they want, face up;
c) take a letter from the easel and leave it in the region they want, face up;
d) move a letter from a region to a neighbouring region. This action may only be used to build a word immediately. A letter moved by a player may not change region again until it is the turn of the player who moved it again.

The same action may be performed twice in one turn. The two actions must be carried out one after the other. For example, you may not take two vowels from the bag and put them on the easel; instead, you take one, leave it where you want, and then take another. Once both actions are done, the turn passes to the player on the left.

During their turn, a player may also close a word in a region and place one of their markers on it (see below). The region in which a player forms a word does not have to be one in which that player took part during their turn.

When a word is closed in a region, the letters used to make it are set aside. A new word can then be formed there. Each region can hold only three words. When a player has used all five of their markers, they no longer play.

Scoring

To be closed, a word must have at least four letters and must be formed from all or some of the letters in the region. The words each player creates must have different lengths. The more letters a word has, the more points it is worth:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10 or more	25

Attention: a word cannot be closed unless there is a chain of closed words reaching the sea. The first region in which a word must be closed is therefore the maritime region.

A closed word of the same category (noun, adjective or verb) as the region is counted as if it had two more letters. The first word built in each region receives a bonus of 5 points, except the first word closed in the maritime region, which receives 10 points instead of 5. Finally, the multiplier of the region in which the word was formed (x1, x2, x3 or x4) is applied to the value of the word.

End of the game

The game ends on the turn in which one or more players run out of markers, or in which there are regions with three markers, depending on the number of players:

Players	Players without markers	Regions with three markers
2–3	1	3
4–5	2	3
6	3	4

When this happens, all players play until the player to the right of the one who started the game has had a turn, so that everyone has made the same number of plays. The player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, the player who built the most valuable word wins.

Example

It is the Yellow player's turn. As the first action, they place an S from their easel in the region where the letters D, E, M, O and U are. As the second action, they take an L from the neighbouring green region and move it. To finish the turn, they build the word MODULES in this same region. This is worth 40 points: 15 points for the word (MODULES is a seven-letter verb form built in a region of verbs, so it counts as if it had nine letters) + 5 points (the first word formed in this region) x 2 (the region's multiplier). The letters of MODULES are removed, the Yellow player places one of their markers in the region, the points are noted, and the turn passes to the player on their left.

Pairs

The game may be played in pairs, whose members sit in alternate seats. Partners may talk to each other as they like, but never outside the table, so their conversations are always public. Each one plays for themselves (that is, letters on an easel may not be passed) and the pair shares a common scoring.

Length of the game

If you want longer or shorter games, you can change the number of words to be closed or the end-of-game parameters, so that the game suits the taste and the time available to the players.

ArBredasíl·laB

Players: 2–6. Time: 60 minutes.

Material

The board of the wood (l'arbreda).
The syllables.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board of the wood is placed in the middle of the table. The syllables are placed inside the bag. Each player draws one syllable tile at random from the bag. Two more tiles are taken from among the tiles that have only one syllable and are placed on the trees marked in the central strip of the wood. The first player is chosen.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player places their syllable on a free tree next to an occupied tree, so that it forms at least one word. The more words it forms, the more points it earns. If the tile the player has to play has a syllable on each side, they must choose whichever side suits them better.

When fifteen trees of one strip have been occupied, syllables may also be placed on the trees of neighbouring strips.

Placing a syllable is compulsory. If a player believes that, with the syllable or syllables they have, no word can be formed, they must show the tile to the other players. If they all agree, the tile goes back into the bag and the player draws another one to try to place on the board.

Words of more than two syllables must be readable in their natural order.

Once a syllable has been placed and the points noted, the player draws a new syllable and passes the turn to the player on their left.

Example: if the syllable DA is placed, the words ALADA, DARÉ, DAVEN and VENDA can be formed, but not PODARÉ, because the syllables are not in that order. This play scores 6 points.

Words that can be read in both directions score twice (as DONA and NADÓ do). Likewise, two identical syllables that form a word score twice (as RARA does). A syllable cannot form part of the same word twice (for example, with the syllables CA and SA one can build CASA and SACA, but not CASACA). The syllable placed must remain a syllable in the new words formed, respecting the rules of syllabic division.

Note: some groups may prefer to play with two or three tiles rather than one, in order to have more possibilities when placing syllables on the board. They are free to do so if they agree before the game.

Scoring

The player scores points for all the words created with the syllable placed, in all directions of reading:

Syllables	Points
2	1
3	3
4	7
5	15
6	25

The total is multiplied by the value of the strip of the wood where the syllable was placed (x1, x2 or x3).

Example: if the syllable REN is placed, the words RENTA, RENTI, TIREN, TAREN, ESTIREN, RETIREN, COTAREN, ESCOTAREN and ACOTAREN can be formed, which total 27 points (four two-syllable words: 4 x 1 = 4; three three-syllable words: 3 x 3 = 9; and two four-syllable words: 2 x 7 = 14). Because REN was placed in a strip that doubles the results, the total for the play is 54 points. Not bad at all!

End of the game

The game ends when there are at least fifteen trees occupied in every strip. After the play in which this occurs, play continues up to the player before the first player, so that everyone plays the same number of times. The player with the most points wins.

Length of the game

If you want longer or shorter games, you only need to reduce or increase the number of trees occupied in each strip.

To make it easier

Some groups of players may prefer to have two or three tiles instead of one, to have more possibilities when placing syllables on the board. They are free to do so if they agree before the game.

Buguigrama

Players: 2–4. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of the square (la plaça).
The letters.
The markers.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board of the square is completely filled with letters placed face up at random. Surplus letters are kept in the bag. The first player is chosen.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player has thirty seconds to find the longest possible word (of at least five letters), formed by adjacent letters, orthogonally or diagonally. Words must be readable in order. A letter may not form part of a word more than once. When a player has found a word, they announce it and cover its letters with markers (the colour does not matter), so that those letters can no longer be used in the round. Words must have at least five letters and score:

Letters	Points
5	1
6	2
7	4
8	6
9	9
10	12
11	15
12 or more	20

Example: in this fragment of the square there are at least the words ARRAULITS (9 points) and DANTESCA (6 points). Can you find more?

If a player does not find any word, they pass the turn to the next player. When the players agree that no more words can be formed, or when no markers are left, the round ends. The tiles go back into the bag, are mixed well, and a new board is formed. The new round is started by the player to the left of the one who started the previous round. There are as many rounds as there are players. At the end, the player with the most points wins.

Vailetosíl·laB

Players: 2–5. Time: 20 to 40 minutes.

Material

The tiles with one syllable.
A cloth bag.

Preparation

The tiles are placed in the bag. It is decided whether the game will be short or long. 36 or 49 tiles are drawn from the bag at random to form a square of 6x6 or 7x7 syllables respectively, with the syllables face down. The first player is chosen.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player turns over two syllables. If they can form a word with them, they keep them and turn over two more. If not, they turn them face down again in the same place and pass the turn to the next player.

When there are no syllables left on the table, or when the players agree that no more words can be formed with the syllables on the table, the game ends. The player with the most syllables wins.

Velosíl·laB

Players: 2–5. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of the wood (l'arbreda).
The syllables.
Markers.
A cloth bag.

Preparation

The board is placed in the middle of the table. Each player draws ten syllable tiles at random. The first player is chosen.

Rules

All players play at the same time, each in a strip of the board, of which they will only use one row of trees. Starting from one side, they must place syllables one at a time, so that each syllable forms a word with the previous one. For each syllable placed, the player may take a new syllable from the bag or from the common pot, if there is one. If a player is not interested in the syllables they hold, they may leave them beside the board, in view of everyone, and draw new ones from the bag, until they have ten again.

When a player reaches the other side of the wood with their row, the round ends. The players take as many markers as the syllables they have placed, bearing in mind that each incorrect word removes one. The winner of the round also takes as many extra markers as the difference between themselves and the last player of the round.

There are as many rounds as there are players. The player with the most markers wins.

Vermigrama

Players: 2–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of the square (la plaça).
The letters.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board is filled completely with letters placed face up at random. Surplus letters are kept in the bag.

Rules

For two minutes, all players write down as many words as they can, formed by letters that are adjacent orthogonally or diagonally, of at least five letters. Words must be readable in order. A letter may not form part of the same word more than once, but it may form part of different words. When the time is up, the players read out the words they have found.

Words written by more than one player are cancelled. The others score:

Letters	Points
5	1
6	2
7	4
8	6
9	9
10	12
11	15
12 or more	20

The letters go back into the bag, are mixed well, and a new board is formed. There are as many rounds as there are players. In the end, the player with the most points wins.

We recommend that more experienced players try playing one minute per play: they will taste the linguistic stress.

Vermisíl·laB

Players: 2–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of the wood (l'arbreda).
The syllables.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board is filled completely with syllables, placed at random, one on each tree. Tiles with a single syllable must be placed face up. It does not matter if the board is not filled completely, but there must be no empty trees between syllables.

Rules

For two minutes, all players write down all the words they find (of at least two syllables) formed by adjacent syllables. The syllables must be readable in order. A syllable may not form part of the same word more than once, but it may form part of different words. When the time is up, the players read their lists.

Words written by more than one player score nothing. For the others, the players score the following points:

Syllables	Points
2	1
3	3
4	7
5	15
6	25

The multiplier of the strips is not taken into account.

The syllables go back into the bag, are mixed well, and a new board is formed. There are as many rounds as there are players. In the end, the player with the most points wins.

We recommend that more experienced players try playing one minute per play: they will taste the linguistic stress.

Vestengrama

Players: 2–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The letters.
Two cloth bags.

Preparation

The vowels are placed in one bag and the consonants in the other. Five letters are placed face up at random in each region of the country, except the maritime region. The five letters must be two vowels and three consonants, or two consonants and three vowels.

Rules

All players play at the same time. For one minute they must think of the longest word that ends in the maritime region. Words must have at least four letters, may start in any region, and must be formed by letters from adjacent regions. To form a word, a player may enter the same region more than once, but may not take the same letter more than once. In the maritime region there is a wildcard that is worth any letter.

When the time is up, the players say the words they have created. The play is won by whoever proposes the longest word. In case of a tie, the word that comes first in alphabetical order wins.

Scoring

The player who proposed the word scores according to its length:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10 or more	25

The letters used are removed from the board. Play continues until the players believe there are no more words to form. At most five plays are made in a round. When the round ends, all the letters are removed and returned to the bags. New letters are drawn from the bags and a new round begins.

There are as many rounds as there are players. The player with the most points wins.

Vistagrama

Players: 2–6. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

The letters are placed face up within reach of all players. The first player is chosen; they take four letters and form a word in the middle of the table. They score the points for their word and pass the turn to the player on their left.

Each player has five seconds to form a new word, using the letters of the word on the table and any others of those still left. The letters of the word formed may always be rearranged to form a new word. If a player cannot do this, they are eliminated from the round. The player scores the corresponding points and play continues. Once a word of ten letters has been formed, the player whose turn it is has one minute to find the new word.

Scoring

The players note the points they have made for the words formed:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10	25
11	35
12	50
13	65
14	80
15 or more	100

When everyone has passed, the round ends. The letters used are set aside. In each new round, the game begins with the player seated to the left of the one who began the previous round. That player takes four letters to form a new word. There are as many rounds as there are players. The player with the most points wins.

Vocaligrama

Players: 2–5. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The five vowels for each player, and all the consonants.
One easel for each player.

Rules

The board is placed in the middle of the table and the consonants are scattered around it. Each player places the five vowels on their easel. The player who starts is chosen.

On each turn, a player places a pentavowel word (that is, one with the five different vowels) using their vowels and whatever consonants they wish. Each letter must be placed in an adjacent region, without passing through the same region twice in the same word. Only if the word has more than eleven letters may regions be repeated, after having passed through all eleven. The game begins at the region closest to the sea, and after the first word, play continues from the region where the last consonant was left. The next player must begin their word with that consonant.

After placing a word, the player collects the vowels, returns the consonants except the last one, and scores points according to the length of the word:

Letters	Points
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10	25
11	35
12	50
13	65
14	80
15 or more	100

The first player to reach 200 points wins.

Votagrama

Players: 3–10. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

Ten letters are taken from the bag and placed face up in the middle of the table. These are the "good" letters. Four more are taken, the "bad" letters, which are also placed face up, separate from the others.

No player may touch the letters. For one minute, all players must write a word that contains none of the "bad" letters and as many "good" letters as possible. They may write as many words as they like, but when the time is up they may only say one of them.

Words with one or more "bad" letters are cancelled and score nothing. Words that do not have at least half "good" letters are also cancelled.

Each player scores as many points as there are "good" letters in their word. If letters are repeated, they are treated as if they were different. For example: if there is one A among the "good" letters and none among the "bad" letters, and a player writes ARMARI, they score one point for an A; if there are two Es among the "good" letters and none among the "bad" letters, and a player writes FONAMENTAL, they score one point for an E, not two. In addition, the player who has included the most "good" letters in their word gets 3 extra points. If two or more players have used the same number of letters, the one who wrote the shorter word wins.

The letters used are set aside and fourteen more are taken from the bag. When a player reaches 50 points, they win the game.

XaVograma

Players: 4–6. Time: 40 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The letters.
One marker for each player.
One easel for each player.
Two cloth bags.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board is placed in the middle of the table. The vowels are placed in one bag and the consonants in the other. One letter is placed at random, face up, in each region of the board. The letters must all be different. Each player takes eight letters from between the two bags and places them on their easel. The game is played simultaneously.

Rules

For two minutes the players think of the best word they can form with their letters and the letter in each region. When the time is up, each player places the letters of the word they have chosen together in the region where they believe the word will score the most. To avoid problems, when the time is up all players place their marker at the same time in the region where they want to form the word. If in one region there is more than one word, only the word of greater value scores.

The words formed must have at least four letters. Each player scores for the length of the word:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10 or more	25

The words have a bonus of five points if the word is of the category of the region (noun, adjective or verb). The points are multiplied by the value of the region.

All the letters are put into the bag and the game is played again. The first player to reach 300 points wins. If more than one player passes 300 points in the same play, the one with more points wins.

ZomBigrama

Players: 4–10. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The letters.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

Two N, two V and one A are taken and placed face down. These are the category letters: N = noun, V = verb, A = adjective. The remaining letters are placed in the bag.

Rules

Three letters are drawn at random from the bag and placed face up in the middle of the table. One of the five grammatical category letters is also turned over. For one minute, all the players must write words that contain the three letters and that belong to the grammatical category indicated. Verbs must be in the infinitive, adjectives must be in the masculine singular, and nouns may not be plural or feminine, unless they mean different things (SASTRE or SASTRESSA may be written, but not both words).

When the minute has passed, the players read out the words they have written. They note one point for each word that someone else has also said, and three points for each word that no one else has said.

The three letters used are set aside. The category letter is turned face down again and mixed with the others. Three new letters are drawn from the bag, a category letter is turned over, and play resumes.

The first player to reach 100 points wins.

ABocagrama

Players: 3–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Twenty markers.
A cloth bag.

Rules

All the letters are placed in the bag. On each turn, each player draws five letters and places them face up on the table, in the same order in which they were drawn from the bag. They must immediately say a correctly constructed sentence that contains words beginning with the letters drawn from the bag, in the same order in which they came out. The sentence may have more than five words.

A player who cannot form a sentence takes a marker. A player is eliminated when they have three markers. The last player to be eliminated wins.

ABraçagrama

Players: 2–6. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
A cloth bag.
One easel for each player.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

All players take eight letters at random from the bag and place them on their easel. The player who starts is chosen. The first player forms a four-letter word with their eight letters, places it in the middle of the table, and takes four letters to have eight again. They score the points for their word and pass the turn to the player on their left.

On each turn, the player has one minute to add a new letter from their hand and form a new word, or to pass. The letters of the word formed may always be rearranged to form a new word. They score the points for the word formed and take a new letter.

When everyone has passed, the round ends. All the letters are returned to the bag. Each player takes eight, and a new round begins, started by the player to the left of the one who started the previous round. There are as many rounds as there are players. When the game ends, the player with the most points wins.

Scoring

The players note the points they have made for the words formed:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	6
8	9
9	12
10	15
11	20
12	30
13	45
14	65
15 or more	90

Aparellasíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
Markers.
A cloth bag.

Rules

Two syllables are drawn at random from the bag and placed in the middle of the table, in view of everyone. Everyone tries to think of a word formed by the two syllables and two letters of their choice, with the only condition that one of the letters must go between the two syllables. The first player who says a word takes a marker. The first player to reach five markers wins the game.

BaBalagrama

Players: 2–8. Time: 40 minutes.

Material

The letters.
A cloth bag, or two.

Preparation

Six letters, A, D, E and U, are set aside. The rest are placed in the bag. The first player is chosen.

Rules

The first player draws a letter from the bag at random, says a word that begins with that letter, and leaves the letter face up. Starting from their left, the players take turns drawing a new letter and adding a new word (a noun, adjective or verb) that begins with that letter, so that the sequence or sentence is always syntactically correct. Articles, conjunctions and pronouns may always be added to give meaning to the sequence or sentence. All particles added must continue to be used for the whole game.

When a player makes a mistake for the first time, they take an A and place it in front of them, face up. That player is the first player of the new round. When a player makes a mistake for the second time, they take a D; the third time, an E; and the fourth time, a U. When the word ADÉU has been completed, that player says goodbye to the game. The last player still alive wins.

If the players agree, the vowels are placed in one bag and the consonants in another, and the player whose turn it is chooses from which bag they draw the letter.

Example: Albert and Bruna are playing. A C comes out. Albert says LA CARMANYOLA... An A comes out. Bruna says LA CARMANYOLA ABSTRACTA... An NY comes out. Albert says LA CARMANYOLA ABSTRACTA DEL NYU... A C comes out. Bruna says LA CARMANYOLA ABSTRACTA DEL NYU CATALANITZA... An L comes out. Albert says LA CARMANYOLA ABSTRACTA DEL NYU CATALANITZA EL LLIBRE... An R comes out. Bruna says LA CARMANYOLA ABSTRACTA DEL NYU CATALANITZA EL LLIBRE DE RECLAMACIONS... A G comes out. Albert says LA CARMANYOLA ABSTRACTA DEL NYU CATALANITZA EL LLIBRE DE RECLAMACIONS DE LA GENERALITAT... An I comes out. Bruna says LA CARMANYOLA ABSTRACTA DEL NYU CATALANITZA EL LLIBRE DE RECLAMACIONS DE LA GENERALITAT ITALIANA... An N comes out. Albert gets confused when saying the sentence, takes an A and places it in front of them, face up. The next round begins.

Baixagrama

Players: 2–5. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The letters.
Two cloth bags.

Preparation

The vowels are placed in one bag and the consonants in the other. Seven letters are placed at random, face up, in each region of the country, except the maritime region. The seven letters must be four vowels and three consonants, or four consonants and three vowels. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

On each turn, the players must form, within one minute, the longest possible word that ends in the maritime region. Words must have at least four letters, may start in any region, and must be formed by letters from adjacent regions. To form a word, a player may enter the same region more than once, but may not take the same letter more than once. In the maritime region there is a wildcard that is worth any letter.

The player scores according to the length of the word and passes the turn to the player on their left:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10 or more	25

The letters used are removed from the board. Play continues until all players have been able to form a word. When the round ends, the letters are returned to their respective bags and a new round is played, beginning with the player on the left of the first player of the previous round. There are as many rounds as there are players. The player with the most points wins.

Bananasíl·laB

Players: 4–10. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

Seven syllables are drawn at random from the bag and placed one after another, also at random. All players must write, within one minute, a complete sentence that contains the syllables in the order in which they are on the table.

Example: if the syllables are TA, EX, COM, LLA, MA, RA, DES, the sentence may be "TA mare EXplica al COMte una rondaLLA mentre MAta la RAta DEScarada".

When everyone has finished, a player takes all the papers and reads the sentences twice. The players must write on another paper which sentences get 3, 2 and 1 points. The criteria for doing so are free, of course, but one may consider whether the sentence is short, whether it is funny, whether it has few connectors, and whether it rhymes. One may always give 3 points to one's own sentence, but if everyone does it there will be no game, because of repeated ties; and if only one or two do it, it will be so ugly that the other players will not want to play with them.

Players say who each sentence belongs to and note the points won. In addition, the players who gave points to the winning sentence or sentences also collect the points they awarded.

The papers with the written sentences are given to different players in each round, so that players cannot easily recognise each other's handwriting. Very small papers that are discarded in each round may also be used.

The syllables used are set aside and a new round is played, beginning with the player to the left of the player who began the previous round.

The game ends when as many rounds have been played as twice the number of players, or when a player reaches the number of points agreed beforehand.

Barrejagrama

Players: 4–10. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Twelve markers for each player.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

All the letters are placed face up on one side of the table, within reach of all players. Each player takes twelve markers. The player who starts is chosen.

Before the game begins, the players must agree on which words may be used and which may not. For inexperienced players it is preferable not to use conjugated verbs or plurals of nouns or adjectives.

Rules

All players place a marker in the centre of the table. The player whose turn it is thinks of a word of between eight and twelve letters and secretly takes the corresponding letters. They place them in disorder, face up (for example, the letters AAEELLMRV). No player may touch the letters.

For one minute, all players must find and write the word that the player who chose the letters has thought of, or another word that can be formed with the same letters (in the example, MERAVELLA must be written).

Up to five players: if only one player discovers the hidden word, that player and the one who thought of it share the markers in the centre of the table.
With six or more players: if only one or two players discover the hidden word, they and the one who thought of it share the markers.
If more than one person (or more than two, from six players onwards) discovers the hidden word, the markers in the centre of the table are shared among them, but the one who thought of the word takes none.
If nobody discovers the hidden word, the player who thought of it places one more marker in the centre of the table and passes the turn to the player on their left. The pot is kept for the next play.

Depending on the number of players, there are as many turns as there are players, or double that number of turns.

Barrinagrama

Players: 2–5. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Markers.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

The letters are placed face up within reach of all players. The first player takes any letter they wish and says a word that contains it. The player on their left chooses a new letter and says a word that contains both letters in the order in which they came out, or passes the turn to the next player. A player who has passed may not play again in the round. Play continues until no one can form a new word. The last player to do so wins a marker.

When a player forms a word of eight letters, the player whose turn it is has one minute to find a new word.

The same word may not be repeated in a round of play. The letters used are set aside. When a player reaches five markers, they win the game.

More experienced players will prefer the letters to be kept inside the bag instead of in view of everyone. The game, of course, will then be more complicated.

Baulasíl·laB

Players: 3–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of the wood (l'arbreda).
The syllables.
Twenty markers of one colour for each player.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board of the wood is placed in the middle of the table. The syllables are placed in the bag. Five are drawn at random and placed on one of the boxes on the left of each strip of the board. Each player takes markers of one colour and draws three syllables from the bag, which they leave in front of them in view of the other players. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player adds a syllable beside a tree that already has one and in the same strip, so that a new word is formed. Syllables may not be placed on trees before the syllable furthest to the right of the strip. The player places one of their markers on the syllable they have just placed and draws a new syllable from the bag, to have three again. They pass the turn to the player on their left.

Placing a syllable is compulsory. If a player believes that they cannot place any, and the other players agree, they may return the three syllables to the bag and draw three new ones without losing the turn.

Scoring

Because each run of syllables cannot leave its strip, long chains of linked words will end up being formed. When each of the runs of syllables is closed, the players score the following points: 5 for the player with the most markers in the run, 3 for the second with the most, and 1 for the third. If there is a tie, the players share the points of the two or three positions.

End of the game

The game ends when four runs of linked words have been closed (or three, if a faster and more tense game is wanted). The player with the most points wins.

Bigrafosíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

Two syllables are drawn at random from the bag and placed in the middle of the table, in view of everyone. For one minute, everyone writes words formed by the two syllables and two letters of their choice, with the only condition that one of the letters must go between the two syllables.

When the minute has passed, everyone scores as many points as the number of words they have written, plus one point for each word that nobody else has written. The first player to reach the agreed number of points wins, for example 50 points.

Bimemosíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 20 to 40 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
Two cloth bags.

Preparation

The tiles with one syllable are placed in one bag and those with two syllables in the other. It is decided whether the game will be short, medium or long. 36, 49 or 64 tiles are drawn from the bag at random to form two squares of 6x6, 7x7 or 8x8 syllables respectively. In one of them, the one-syllable tiles are placed face down, with their blank backs in view. In the other, the syllables of the chosen colour are placed face down. The syllables left face up must all be of the same colour: the colour not chosen. They will not count for the game.

Rules

When there are no syllables left face up on the table, or when the players agree that no more words can be formed with the syllables on the table, the game ends. The player with the most syllables wins.

Blufigrama

Players: 3–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Twenty markers for each player.
One easel for each player.
A cloth bag.

Preparation

The letters are placed in the bag. Each player takes twenty markers. Each player draws four letters and places them on their easel. Each player places one marker in the middle of the table. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

The player whose turn it is draws five letters at random and places them face down on the table. The players may not touch or shuffle these letters, except at the moment they are turned over.

A first round of bids is made, in order, starting from the first player seated to the left of the player whose turn it is. A player may bid up to three markers. When the bids are level, three of the five letters in the middle of the table are turned over at random. The players bid again, always starting with the player seated to the left of the player whose turn it is. One more letter is turned over and another round of bids is made. The last letter is turned over and the final bid is made. When a player no longer wishes to bid, they withdraw and lose everything they had bid in the turn. If only one person is bidding, they take all the markers.

When the four rounds of bids have been completed, the players who have not withdrawn have 30 seconds to think of the longest word with their four letters and the five common letters. At least one of their own letters must always be used. The winner takes the markers in the middle of the table. If more than one person has the longest word, the one who used more of their own four letters wins. If there is still a tie, the winnings are shared. If an exact division is not possible, the surplus markers are left in the pot for the next play. The letters used are set aside.

If a player runs out of markers in the middle of a play, two piles of markers are made: one containing the markers up to the moment this player ran out, and a second with the new markers from the players who have not yet withdrawn. If the play is won by the player who ran out of markers, only the pile in which they took part is kept by them, and the rest of the markers are left in the pot for the next play. If the play is won by one of the other players, they keep both piles of markers.

If a player runs out of markers at the end of a play, they play no more. The five letters on the table and the four letters of each player are set aside. All players place one marker in the middle of the table again and take four new letters from the bag. The new first player is the one seated to the left of the player whose turn it is. They draw five new letters from the bag and place them face down in the middle of the table.

There are as many turns as there are players, or double that number. The player with the most markers at the end of the game wins.

Example: five letters are placed face down in the middle of the table. Four people play with the following easels:

Player	Letters on easel
Anna	L, C, E, S
Berta	R, O, G, L
Carles	O, A, R, S
Diana	Z, N, U, U

All the players place one marker in the middle of the table. Anna starts the bidding with three more markers, because she is convinced that with the letters she has she will get some good word. Berta and Carles are not frightened and also place three markers. Diana, on the other hand, believes that with a Z and two Us she has no chance and withdraws.

Three of the five letters that were face down are turned over. They are M, M, D. Now Anna is no longer so sure and says she will not bid anything. Berta is fine with that, but Carles thinks he now has the advantage, so he bids three markers. Anna also places them, because she believes that if a vowel comes out she has many possibilities. Berta withdraws. Only Anna and Carles remain.

A new letter is turned over, an E. Anna sees that she can form words such as CLEDES and DELMES and that it is worth bidding strongly to see whether Carles withdraws. She places two markers in the middle of the table. But Carles trusts his letters and matches the bid. Now there are 23 markers in the middle of the table.

The last letter is turned over, an I. Anna says that she is happy with this and does not bid anything more. Carles is also happy with it. Now they have 30 seconds to find the longest word that contains the maximum possible number of their own letters. When the time has passed, Anna announces a seven-letter word, four of whose letters are those on her easel. Carles has also found two seven-letter words, but neither uses the whole easel. So Anna wins the 23 markers with MESCLEM. Carles had found EMMARIS and MIMADES, both seven-letter words. But they are not the best words, because they do not use the four letters on the easel. What he does not know is that he could have won with a magnificent SOMIAREM, of eight letters.

Brodagrama

Players: 4–10. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The letters.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

All the letters are placed in the bag. On each turn, each player draws five of them and places them face up on the table, in the same order in which they were drawn from the bag. For one minute, all the players write a sentence that contains words beginning with the letters on the table, in the same order. The sentence may have more than five words.

When everyone has finished, one player takes all the papers and reads the sentences twice. The players must write on another paper which sentences get 3, 2 and 1 points. The criteria for doing so are free, of course, but one may consider whether the sentence is short, whether it is funny, whether it has few connectors, and whether it rhymes. No points may be given to one's own sentence.

The players say who each sentence belongs to and note the points won. In addition, the players who gave points to the winning sentence or sentences also collect the points they awarded.

The letters used are set aside and a new round is played, beginning with the player to the left of the player who began the previous round.

The game ends when as many rounds have been played as twice the number of players, or when a player reaches the number of points agreed beforehand.

Brodasíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The letters.
The syllables.
Markers.
A cloth bag.

Rules

The letters are scattered face up within reach of all players. The syllables are placed in the bag. Each player draws six of them at random.

For one minute, the players must form a word with each of the syllables they have and one more letter that they take from those available. Syllables may not be split or used backwards. A syllable need not remain the same syllable in the word formed (for example, with the syllable RAN and the letter G one can make the words GRAN and RANG, although in neither of these one-syllable words is RAN any longer a syllable).

When the time is up, each player wins a marker for each word formed. In each new play, the words must grow by one more letter. The letters may not be moved from one word to another, but they may have a different order in each new word. When a player cannot make a word grow, they win no marker and set aside the syllable and the letters that did not grow.

When no player can form a new word, the round ends. There are as many rounds as there are players. The player with the most markers wins.

Buguisíl·laB

Players: 2–5. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of the wood (l'arbreda).
The syllables.
Markers.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

Rules

On his or her turn, each player has thirty seconds to find the longest possible word (of at least two syllables), formed by adjacent syllables. Syllables must be readable in order. A syllable may not form part of a word more than once. When the player has one, they announce the word they have found and cover its syllables with markers (the colour does not matter), so that they can no longer be used in the round. If a player does not find any word, they pass the turn to the next player.

When the players agree that no more words can be formed, or when no markers are left, the round ends. The syllables go back into the bag, are mixed well, and a new board is formed. The new round is started by the player to the left of the player who began the previous round. There are as many rounds as there are players. In the end, the player with the most points wins.

Scoring

The player scores points for the word found:

Syllables	Points
2	1
3	3
4	7
5	15
6	25

The multiplier of the strips is not taken into account.

ByeByegrama

Players: 2–4. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The letters.
The two-letter syllables.
Markers.
Two cloth bags.

Preparation

The two-letter syllables are placed in one bag. Each player draws five of them at random and places them face up in front of them. If a player draws a tile that has a syllable on each side, they may choose which one to use, provided it is a two-letter syllable. The bag is emptied, and the syllables that are not used are set aside. The vowels are placed in one bag and the consonants in the other. One vowel and one consonant are placed face up at random in each region of Verbàlia. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

On each turn, the players choose which syllable they will use for each round. In the first play of a round, each player must form the longest word they can with the syllable they have chosen and the letters from any of the four regions furthest from the sea. The syllable may not be split. They write down the word, leave the syllable in the region, and stack the letters used on top of it. In each round, each letter may only be used once.

When all the players have made their word, the players who have made the longest word take as many markers as the word has letters.

In the following rounds, each player drags the syllable and the letters of the word formed to an adjacent region, takes a new syllable, and tries to make the longest word with all the letters and syllables in the new region. They form a new pile with the letters and syllables of the new word formed. Each new word must contain at least one letter and one syllable. A word may not be repeated in the same round.

By the fifth play, the maritime region must be reached. After five rounds, the player with the most markers wins.

CaValcagrama

Players: 2–4. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of the square (la plaça).
The letters.
Markers.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board is filled completely with letters placed face up, at random. Surplus letters are kept in the bag. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player has thirty seconds to find the longest possible word, formed by letters that are a knight's move apart from one another (that is, two squares in a straight line in one direction and one square in a straight line in another, forming an L). Words must be readable in order. A letter may not form part of a word more than once. When the player has one, they announce the word they have found and cover its letters with markers (the colour does not matter), so that they can no longer be used in the round. Words must have at least five letters and score:

Letters	Points
5	1
6	2
7	4
8	6
9	9
10	12
11	15
12 or more	20

If a player does not find any word, they pass the turn to the next player. When the players agree that no more words can be formed, or when no markers are left, the round ends. The letters go back into the bag, are mixed well, and a new board is formed. The new round is started by the player to the left of the player who began the previous round. There are as many rounds as there are players. In the end, the player with the most points wins.

Cleptosíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The syllables.

Rules

The syllables are shared out among the players, who make a pile of them. Simultaneously, all players place one syllable in the centre of the table. Two-coloured syllables may not be turned over.

The first player who says a word that can be formed with one or more of the syllables in the middle of the table keeps those syllables and adds them underneath the pile of syllables they already have. If, after ten or fifteen seconds, no player can say a word, the players again place one syllable each in the centre of the table, simultaneously. This is repeated until one player runs out of syllables or until a time determined in advance by agreement. The player with the most syllables wins.

If two players say the same two-syllable word at the same moment, each keeps one syllable. If the word has three syllables, each keeps one syllable and the other is removed from the game. If there are two different words that share a syllable, the player who says the word with more syllables keeps the syllables. If they have the same number of syllables, each keeps the different syllable and the shared one is removed from the game.

To make a shorter game, forty or fifty syllable tiles may be set aside at random before the game begins.

DoBlograma

Players: 1–8. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

All the letters are scattered face up in the middle of the table. All players play at the same time.

In the first play, a player draws a letter at random, shows it to everyone, and sets it to one side, separate from the others. For thirty seconds, all players write the longest possible word that contains the proposed letter only once. All players score as many points as there are letters in the words they have written.

The player who has written the longest word takes a second letter identical to the first, set apart, and one more letter from the word they have written, different from the other two. If more than one person has written the word with the highest number of letters, they choose the letter that is closest on the left of the player who took the last letter.

Now the longest possible word must be written that contains the first proposed letter exactly twice and that also contains one or more times the second letter. As long as a player has written a word that meets the conditions, play continues.

The game continues in the same way until no player writes a valid word. The player to the left of the first player chooses a new letter and another round begins. There are as many rounds as there are players. The player with the most points wins.

Example: Albert and Bruna are playing.

Play 1. Albert chooses an A. He writes DECANTÉSSIM. He scores 11 points. Bruna writes SIMULTANI. She scores 9 points.
Play 2. Albert chooses a new A and a D. He writes CADERNERA. He scores 9 points. Bruna writes ATARDÉSSIM. She scores 10 points.
Play 3. Bruna chooses a new A and an M. She writes DEMANARÀS. She scores 9 points. Albert writes DIAMANTINA. He scores 10 points.
Play 4. Albert chooses a new A and an I. He finds no word. Bruna also finds no word.

The round ends. Albert has 30 points and Bruna has 28. Bruna chooses a letter and begins a new round.

EndeVinagrama

Players: 3–8. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Eight markers for each player.
A few extra markers.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

Each player takes eight markers (the colours do not matter, all have the same value). The letters are placed face up on one side of the table, within reach of all players. The other eight markers are set aside next to the pile of letters. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

The first player thinks of a secret word of between eight and twelve letters and secretly takes the corresponding letters. They place the letters face down on the table, in the order of the word. Starting with the player on their left, each player in turn chooses a letter from the pile of letters and asks whether it forms part of the word. If it does, the player who thought of the word turns over the corresponding letter. If not, the letter is left face up beneath the secret word, and the player who asked places one marker in the middle of the table.

Note: a word may contain repeated letters. In this case, each letter must be asked for separately. For example, if the secret word is MONUMENTAL and a player asks for the letter M, one M is turned over, but not both.

At any moment, a player may risk saying what the secret word is. If they guess it correctly, they take two markers, plus as many markers as there were letters of the secret word still to be turned over, and the round ends. If they do not guess it, they leave two markers in the middle of the table and the round continues as if nothing had happened.

When a round ends, each player notes as many points as markers they have. The player who put forward the secret word scores as many points as the difference between the player who has the most and the player who has the least. (For example, if the first has 8 and the last has 3, the one who thought of the secret word scores 5.)

The markers are rearranged so that all players have eight again. The player on the left of the first player thinks of a new word. Play continues until all the players have put forward a secret word. In the end, the player with the most points wins.

Enfilasíl·laB

Players: 2–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

Six letters A, D, E, U for each player.
The syllables.

Rules

The syllables are scattered on the table, within reach of all players. The first player chooses a syllable, says a word that begins with that syllable, and leaves it face up in full view of everyone. If the tile has two syllables, they choose which one to use. The turn then passes to the player on their left.

Each player chooses a new syllable, places it behind the other syllables, and says, in order, all the words that have been said up to that point, and finally a word that begins with the syllable they have chosen.

When a player makes a mistake for the first time, they take an A and place it in front of them, face up. That player is the first player of the new round. When a person makes a mistake for the second time, they take a D; the third time, an E; and the fourth time, a U. When the word ADÉU has been completed, that player says goodbye to the game. The last player still in the game wins.

EnVoltagrama

Players: 2–6. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Markers.
A cloth bag.

Rules

The letters are placed in the bag. The first player is chosen; they draw a letter at random and say a word that contains it. The player on their left chooses a new letter and says a word that contains both. The game continues in the same way until no one can form a new word. The last player to do so takes a marker.

When a word of nine letters is formed, the player whose turn it is has one minute to find a new word.

The same word may not be repeated in a round of play. The letters used are set aside. The first player to reach five markers wins the game.

EsBartigrama

Players: 6–12. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
Two cloth bags.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The letters are separated into two groups with exactly the same letters, and are placed face up on two sides of the table. The game is played by teams of at least three people.

Rules

For five minutes, the players of each team take whichever letter they want from their pile and write down a word that contains it. They choose another and write down a new word that contains both letters. They continue in the same way until they cannot form a new word. They set the word formed to one side and begin another. When the time is up, they score for the completed words.

The same word may not be repeated in a round of play.

Each team appoints a controller to watch the other team, to prevent them from being tempted to make "too" long words.

The most experienced players will prefer the letters to be kept inside two bags, rather than in view. Of course, the game will then be more complicated.

Scoring

Each team notes the points it has made for the words formed:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	6
8	9
9	12
10	15
11	20
12	30
13	45
14	65
15 or more	90

Grafosíl·laB

Players: 2–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
Markers.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

Two syllables are drawn at random from the bag and placed in the middle of the table, in view of everyone. For one minute, everyone writes words formed by one of the syllables, any letter, and the other syllable. The syllables need not also be syllables in the words created.

When the minute has passed, everyone takes as many markers as the number of words they have written, plus one more for each word that nobody else has written. The first player to reach twenty-five markers wins.

GraVagrama

Players: 4–10. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

A newspaper.
A fluorescent highlighter.
Markers.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

The game is played in pairs. One person from each pair underlines thirty words on a page of a newspaper. They let their partner see them for thirty seconds. Then they say one word that is related to each of the underlined words. They may say antonyms, synonyms, associated words, or anything else they like. They may not make gestures, mime, or point at anything with their fingers. They may say only one word for each underlined word. They score as many points as the number of correct words guessed.

All the pairs play in this way, and then play resumes, exchanging the roles of the members of each pair, with the same words or with a series of thirty new words.

The pair with the most points wins.

If a longer game is wanted, once all the pairs have played, the pairs are changed until everyone has had every other player as a partner. The two people in each pair score the same points. The person with the most points wins.

LlaVograma

Players: 2–6. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
The syllables.
Markers.

Rules

The letters are placed face up on one side of the table and the syllables on the other side, within reach of all players. The first player takes whichever letter and syllable they want and says a word that contains them. The player on their left chooses a new letter and says a word that contains the two letters and the syllable. The next player chooses a new letter and says a word that contains the three letters and the syllable. The game continues in the same way until no one can form a new word. The last player to do so takes a marker.

When a word of ten letters is formed, the player whose turn it is has one minute to find a new word.

The same word may not be repeated in a round of play. The letters and syllables used are set aside. When a player reaches five markers, they win the game.

Lligosíl·laB

Players: 3–8. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

The first player is chosen. For two minutes, they take syllables out of the bag one by one and place them face up on the table (the one-syllable tiles) or face down, with whichever side they want (the two-syllable tiles). They do this at whatever pace they like, although it is best to be fairly quick, one every second or every two seconds. It is advisable for all players to take syllables at a similar pace.

The other players take whichever syllables they want, without turning them over, and place them face up in a pile in front of them. They may not look at the syllables in the pile again until the round ends. If their pile falls over or is in disorder, they score no points. Only the syllables that can be seen count.

When the time has passed, the players turn the pile over. They turn the syllables over one by one, carefully, and read out the words they have formed. The syllables of each word need not be in order, but there may be no mixed-up words. Syllables that do not form a word are not counted. Points are scored according to the length of the words:

Syllables	Points
2	3
3	6
4	10
5	15

The player who placed the syllables scores as many points as the player who has scored the most. As many rounds are played as there are players. The player with the most points wins.

Malasíl·laB

Players: 2–6. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

Six letters A, D, E, U for each player.
The syllables.
A cloth bag.

Rules

The first player draws a syllable at random from the bag, places it on the table with whichever side they want (if it has two sides) face up, says a word that begins with that syllable, and leaves it out of view of all the players. All the players, in turn, draw a new syllable and say, in order, all the words that have been said so far, and finally a word that begins with the syllable they have drawn. The syllables that are set aside must be kept in the order in which they appeared.

Memosíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 20 to 40 minutes.

Material

Two-coloured syllable tiles.
A cloth bag.

Preparation

The tiles are placed in the bag. It is decided with which of the two colours of the syllables the game is played. It is decided whether the game will be short, medium or long. 36, 49 or 64 tiles are drawn from the bag at random and form a square of 6x6, 7x7 or 8x8 syllables respectively, with the syllables of the chosen colour face down. The syllables of the other colour are not counted; they are only the backs.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player turns over two syllables. If they can form a word, they keep them and turn over two more. If not, they turn them face down again in the same place and pass the turn to the next player.

Mésquememosíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 20 to 40 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
Two cloth bags.

Preparation

The tiles with one syllable are placed in one bag and the tiles with two syllables in the other. It is decided whether the game will be short, medium or long. 36, 49 or 64 tiles are drawn at random from each bag and two squares are formed of 6x6, 7x7 or 8x8 syllables respectively. In one of them, the one-syllable tiles are placed face down. In the other, the two-syllable tiles are placed as they come out of the bag, without regard to which colour is hidden and which is in view.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player turns over one syllable from each square. If they can form a word, they keep them and turn over two more. If not, they turn them face down again in the same place and pass the turn to the next player. A one-syllable tile is always placed face down, but a two-syllable tile may be left with whichever colour they want face up. It is clear that the syllable that from then on is in play is the one that is underneath. The other one only serves as the back.

Oscíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
Markers.
A cloth bag.

Rules

Two syllables are drawn at random from the bag and placed in the middle of the table, in view of everyone. Everyone tries to think of a word formed by one of the syllables, any letter, and the other syllable. The syllables need not also be syllables in the new word.

The first player who says a word wins a marker. The first player to reach five markers wins the game.

Quadrisíl·laB

Players: 4–8. Time: 10 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

Each player draws twelve syllables at random from the bag. Everyone plays at the same time. Four three-syllable words must be formed. Any player may leave in the middle of the table the syllables that do not suit them, and take others that other players have left there. At no time may a player hold more than twelve tiles in their hands. The first player who links the four words wins.

If after two minutes no player has managed it, each one draws a new syllable from the bag. From then on, players may have a maximum of thirteen syllables in front of them, but the objective is the same: to form four three-syllable words.

In the first games, or to go faster, the game may also be played with twelve syllables, but with the objective of forming only three three-syllable words.

ReBimemosíl·laB

Players: 2–8. Time: 15 to 45 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
Two cloth bags.

Preparation

The tiles with one syllable are placed in one bag and those with two syllables in the other. It is decided whether the game will be short, medium or long. 36, 49 or 64 tiles are drawn from the bag at random and form two squares of 6x6, 7x7 or 8x8 syllables respectively. In one of them, the one-syllable tiles are placed face down, with their blank backs in view. In the other, the syllables of the chosen colour are placed face down. The syllables of the other colour are not counted; they are only the backs.

Rules

On his or her turn, each player turns over one syllable from each square. If they cannot form a word, they turn them face down again in the same place and pass the turn to the next player. If they form a word, they may keep the syllables and turn over two more, or they may risk a repicó. To make a repicó they must turn over a third syllable from the square of their choice. If they can form a word with the three syllables, they keep them and may play twice more. If they cannot form any three-syllable word, they win nothing: they turn the three tiles face down again in the same place and pass the turn to the next player.

When the syllables of one square run out, or when the players agree that no more words can be formed with the syllables on the table, the game ends. The player with the most syllables wins.

ReVoltagrama

Players: 2–6. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

All players take ten letters from the bag and place them face up in front of them, in view of everyone. The first player places a four-letter word on the table and takes four letters to have ten again. They score the points for their word.

All players play at the same time. A player who believes they can form a word one letter longer calls it and has five seconds to form it, using the letters of the word on the table and one of those in their hand. The letters of the word formed may always be rearranged. If they do not manage it, they are eliminated from the round. They score the corresponding points and take new letters to have ten again.

A player may not form two words in a row.

When a word of ten letters is formed, the player who called the turn has one minute to find the new word. If they do not manage it, they are eliminated from the round.

When everyone has passed, the round ends. The letters are returned to the bag. Each player takes ten, and a new round is played, started by the player to the left of the one who began the previous round. There are as many rounds as there are players. The player with the most points wins the game.

Scoring

The players note the points they have made for the words formed:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10	25
11	35
12	50
13	65
14	80
15 or more	100

Ruscosíl·laB

Players: 2–6. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The syllables.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The syllables are placed in the bag. Seven are drawn at random and a rusc (beehive) is built: one syllable is placed in the middle of the table and surrounded by the other six. All players need paper and pencil.

Rules

For one minute, the players must write words that can be formed with adjacent syllables, following a natural order (for example, the syllables DI, DA and TA, if they are in this order, cannot form the word DITADA). A syllable may not form part of the same word twice.

When the minute has passed, the players read the words they have formed. Words that more than one player has written are not counted. The others score points according to their length:

Syllables	Points
2	3
3	6
4	10
5	15

Each player notes the score achieved. Three rounds are played: the first with 7 syllables, the second with 19 and the third with 37. The rusc is formed in the same way as in the first round. After each round, the syllables used are set aside. For the third round, two minutes are allowed. The player with the most points wins.

SuBBugrama

Players: 2. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The letters.
Two cloth bags.
Paper and pencil.

Preparation

The board is placed in the middle of the table. The vowels are placed in one bag and the consonants in the other. One player takes ten vowels at random and the other takes ten consonants. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

The player whose turn it is writes ten words beginning with their ten letters, each with its grammatical category: noun, adjective or verb. Nouns must be written in the singular, adjectives in the masculine singular, and verbs in the infinitive.

They place the letters one by one, at the bottom left-hand corner of the board, and throw them onto the board with a sharp flick of the index finger and thumb, with the aim of bringing them into a region of the desired grammatical category. It is enough for the letter to touch the region for it to be valid. The count is made at the end of the ten throws. Letters that are entirely outside the country score no points. Each letter that is inside the board scores one point, multiplied by the value of the region, if the grammatical category of the word it represents does not match the region. If the category matches, the player wins four points, multiplied by the value of the region. These points are provisional and the opponent's throw may modify them.

Once the points have been noted, the other player throws their ten letters as well, also from the bottom left-hand corner, with the aim of knocking out the opponent's letters and leaving their own inside the board. If, after the ten throws, there are more of their own letters than of the other player's on the board, the score of the first player is halved. If not, the other player scores double.

If the players want to play a more aggressive game, they may score the games in another way: the player who wrote the ten words scores for the letters left on the board after the other player's ten throws. The turns are then swapped. The player who had tried to knock out the other's letters now writes ten words with their own letters and tries to score the maximum number of points. The letters go back into the corresponding bags and a second round is played. The player who had the vowels now plays with the consonants, and the one who had the consonants now plays with the vowels.

At the end of the game, the player with the most points wins.

SVeVograma*

Players: 3–5. Time: 30 minutes.

Material

The board of Verbàlia.
The consonants.
Two sets of five vowels.
Markers.

Preparation

The ten vowels are placed at random on the country, each one in a different region. The consonants are scattered face up in the middle of the table, within reach of all players. The player who starts is chosen.

Rules

On each turn, each player takes a consonant and places it in a region where there is a vowel, to form a word. Words of two, three or four letters count for nothing. Words of five letters or more are noted. The player who formed the word of five letters or more asks whether anyone can improve it, starting with themselves and continuing to the left. The one who lengthens it keeps the consonants of the word. The vowel may then be used to form new words.

If a player cannot form a new word, or builds an incorrect one, they lose their turn and take a penalty marker. The consonant they added goes back into the middle of the table.

No word of five or more letters may be repeated during the whole game.

The game ends when the players agree that no more words can be built, or when no consonants are left. One point is counted for each consonant obtained, and four points are taken away for each penalty marker. The player with the most points wins.

* The writer Italo Svevo was in fact called Ettore Schmidt. He chose his pen name because he was Italo-German and because it saddened him to see the i of his surname alone, surrounded by so many consonants.

TaBugrama

Players: 2–8. Time: 45 minutes.

Material

The letters.
A cloth bag.
Paper and pencil.

Rules

No player may touch the letters. For one minute, the players write as many words as they can that contain some or all of the "good" letters and none of the "bad" letters. Verbs must be in the infinitive, adjectives in the masculine singular, and nouns may not be plural or feminine, unless they mean different things (SASTRE or SASTRESSA may be written, but not both words).

The players read and validate the words they have written and note the points they have scored. The letters used are set aside and fourteen more are taken from the bag. When there are not enough letters left, the game ends. The player with the most points wins.

Scoring

The players note the points they have made for the words written:

Letters	Points
4	1
5	2
6	4
7	7
8	10
9	15
10 or more	25

Words written by only one player count as if they had one more letter. Words that contain all the "good" letters count as if they had two more letters. Words formed exclusively from the "good" letters are worth 50 points.

Recommendation List (VerBigràcia)

The rulebook closes with a list of recommended games, grouped by situation. Each heading below is a letter of the title VerBigràcia, as printed.

V — If you play with people who have little command of Catalan: BaBalagrama, Brodagrama, EndeVinagrama, Memosíl·laB.

E — If you know Catalan but never finish crosswords: XaVograma, Aparellasíl·laB, Barrinagrama, Grafosíl·laB.

R — If you are a big group: Bananasíl·laB, EsBartigrama, Lligosíl·laB, TaBugrama.

B — If you play only with your partner: ABraçagrama, Bimemosíl·laB, Brodasíl·laB, ReBimemosíl·laB.

I — If you want to play with small children: Vailetosíl·laB, Votagrama, ABocagrama, Enfilasíl·laB.

G — If you have less than half an hour: Velosíl·laB, Vermigrama, Baulasíl·laB, Quadrisíl·laB.

R — If you want to play without a clock: Buscador, ArBredasíl·laB, Buguigrama, Ruscosíl·laB.

À — If you have more memory than an optical pencil: GraVagrama, Memosíl·laB, Mésquememosíl·laB, ReBimemosíl·laB.

C — If you have neither paper, pencil nor the will to write: Blufigrama, EnVoltagrama, LlaVograma, Oscíl·laB.

I — If you do not have the dictionary to hand, nor a connection or signal: Barrejagrama, Brodagrama, Cleptosíl·laB, SuBBugrama.

A — If you play with experts and lovers of great challenges: ByeByegrama, CaValcagrama, DoBlograma, SVeVograma.