Wömmeln
Wömmeln Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What Is It About?
WÖMMELN means "WÖrter saMMELN". In ten rounds you wind your way through the letter grid to find words that are as long as possible. Work in a space-saving way so that you do not get in your own way.
Game Materials
- 1 pad consisting of 100 score sheets (printed on both sides) with letter grids:
- 14 different STANDARD sheets
- 6 different INTENSIV sheets
- 30 double-sided category cards
- 2 cover cards
You additionally need a timer and one pen for each player (we recommend pencils and an eraser).
Setup
- Shuffle the category cards and place them as a pile in the middle of the table.
- Decide whether in this game you want to play with the turquoise, checkered half or the red, dotted half of the category cards. Take the cover card of that color and lay it on the pile of category cards.
- Place the timer (e.g. a phone) in the middle of the table and set it to 45 seconds.
- Each of you receives a pen and one STANDARD score sheet. The score sheets have their own number and picture at the bottom right. Make sure that you all use different score sheets. Everyone now writes their name in the bottom left corner of their score sheet.
The INTENSIV score sheets are only needed for the Intensive variant. More on that on p. 7 of this rulebook (see "Intensiv-WÖMMELN" below).
Course of Play
You play 10 rounds. Everyone plays at the same time. A round always runs as follows:
1. Reveal the category
Draw the top category card from the pile. That is the card lying directly under the cover card. Turn it over and place it on the table so everyone can see it. One person now reads aloud the half of the card that has the color of the cover card.
2. Search for a word
Now all of you try simultaneously to find, in your own letter grid, a word that fits the category. To do so, circle all the letters that belong to the word. They may be any distance apart from one another.
3. Connect the letters
Then you connect the circled letters in the correct order so that the word is formed. You may connect the letters horizontally, vertically and diagonally. Connecting lines must always be drawn from letter to letter. That means you draw the connections from each letter that lies on the way always to a neighboring letter (horizontally, vertically or diagonally), and from there on to the next, and again to the next, until you reach the circled letter (see the example below). The unused letters beneath these connecting lines are thereby crossed out. The connections may run in any direction, but not through other circled or crossed-out letters.
Example: You have circled the letters of the word "STIER". The letters S, T and I can each be connected directly because they are neighbors. The connection between I and E runs over an unused I, which is thereby crossed out. The connection between E and R runs over an unused S, which is crossed out. The connections between I and E and between E and R may not be made directly in one line, but must be drawn from letter to letter.
4. Start the timer
Whoever of you first has found a word, that is, circled and connected the letters, puts down their pen and starts the timer. Now all the others have only 45 seconds left to circle their letters. They may still connect them after the time has run out.
5. Enter points
After the time has run out, you read your found words aloud to each other and write them at the bottom, in the scoring area of your score sheet, in the line of the respective round. After that you write the number of letters of the found word. This is at the same time your score for this word.
Attention! Long words do bring more points, but they also use up more space on your letter grid.
You receive no points for this round if:
- you have not found a word, that is, you have circled no letters at all or too few letters.
- you cannot connect all circled letters into a word in accordance with the rules. This is also the case if too many letters were circled and you cannot use all of them for one word.
- the word does not fit the category. In case of doubt, the majority of the group always decides this.
If you receive no points in this round, you may erase the circled letters and begun connections from this round. Enter 0 points in the line of this round.
Notes
- Valid are words that are actually used. They do not have to be in the dictionary. The plural is allowed as long as the category does not ask specifically for a single thing.
- One word must be found. Several words (including proper names that consist of several words) are not permitted.
- To form the umlauts Ä, Ö and Ü, you must use AE, OE and UE.
When you have all entered your points on the score sheets, you begin the next round by revealing a new category card.
The 10th round
In the 10th round you set the timer to double the time, that is, to 1:30 minutes.
End of the Game
After the 10th round the game ends. Add up the points from all 10 rounds. Whoever has the most points wins. In case of a tie, the one among those tied who found the longest word in the game wins. If it is also tied there, they share the victory.
Detailed Example
For a better overview, the individual words in the example on the page are marked in different colors. Pay attention to how the connections are always drawn from letter to letter.
Intensiv-WÖMMELN
For this faster variant, each of you takes a different INTENSIV score sheet, recognizable by the smaller letter grid and the blue color. You play only six rounds. The game is faster, but not easier, because some letters occur only a single time here.
Solo-WÖMMELN
WÖMMELN is fun alone too! With each game, try to beat your personal best. If you are looking for an additional challenge, set yourself a time limit per category, for example 2 minutes.
#wömmeln
Do you want to share your result online and compare yourself with others? Then take a photo of your filled-in score sheet and upload it to social media using #wömmeln.