Wordsmith Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
  • Goal
  • How to Build Letters & Words
    • Building a Letter
    • Building a Word
    • Valid Words
• Playing the Game (for 2 – 4 players)
  • Setup
  • Player Pool of Pieces
  • Challenge: Create 6 Words
    • Adding New Letter Pieces
    • Leftover Letter Pieces
  • Claiming a Word
    • Yelling, Spelling and Objecting
    • Valid Objections
  • Writing and Discarding
    • The Discard Boxes
  • End of Challenge
• Different Player Levels?
• Game Variants
  • Secret Wordsmith
  • Advanced Game
  • Word by Word Game (for 1 – 4 players)
    • Player Pool of Pieces
    • Adding New Letter Pieces
    • Claiming a Word
    • End of Challenge and Game

Game Overview

Goal

Starting with an identical collection of letter pieces, players play three challenges, competing in each challenge to be the first to make six words. Longer words score more points. The player with the most points after the third challenge wins the game.

How to Build Letters & Words

This game is all about building letters and words. You can make any letter in the alphabet from just 4 letter pieces!

Building a Letter

Use the Letter Piece Game alphabet on the box as your guide.

• There's only one right way to build a letter! (Two incorrect A arrangements are marked "nope"; the correct one "yes!")
• You can build different letters from the same pieces. (M also makes W or FI.)

Note: Hyphens and apostrophes count as letters. (The manual's examples SHE'S and TO-DO count as 5 letter words.)

Building a Word

1. Take these 8 letter pieces as your pool.
2. Put the letter pieces together to make BAG.
3. Remix the letter pieces of your pool to make the word CAST.
4. Can you discover more words using these same letter pieces? No trick question – there are actually some possible words.

Another practice round? Take these 8 letter pieces. Try to find a word or even more in two minutes.

Valid Words

• Valid words include only letters, built according to the Letter Piece Game's alphabet.
• Valid words include at least one new letter. You may not make a word by simply moving letters around from your previously claimed word. For example, you can't make GAB if you already made BAG.
• Valid words are dictionary words but not proper names (JOHN, BENTLEY, PERU), abbreviations, slang, or foreign language words.
• Valid words are spelled correctly.

Playing the Game (for 2 – 4 players)

Wordsmith has 3 challenges with up to 6 words each.

Setup

Place the box bottom in the middle of the table. Each player takes a score sheet and a pencil.

Player Pool of Pieces

One player rolls all four dice 2 times in the center compartment of the box tray. For each roll, all players take a letter piece of the rolled color. Every player starts with the same 8 letter pieces in their player pool. Then each player takes a die.

Challenge: Create 6 Words

All players simultaneously create one word after another up to the goal of 6. You may use all of the letter pieces in your player pool. If you can't discover a word with your player pool pieces, you may add letter pieces as follows:

Adding New Letter Pieces

You can get a new letter piece at any time from one of the compartments in the tray by rolling your die and taking the piece you rolled. The new piece is placed in your player pool.

If a wild side is rolled (blue or green with a star), any letter piece may be chosen.

Note: If you roll a letter piece, but the corresponding compartment is empty at the moment, you take any other letter piece instead.

Leftover Letter Pieces

You may have leftover letter pieces after you make a word. Those pieces will be discarded later.

Claiming a Word

When you have discovered a valid word, claim it! You must arrange all letter pieces in your player pool so other players may verify the word.

Yelling, Spelling and Objecting

To claim a word:

1. Yell out your word.
2. Spell the word out loud.
3. Await objections.

The other players can now object to your word.

• If no one objects, claim your word and write it on your score sheet.
• If a valid objection is raised, go back to finding words.

Valid Objections

• The word is not a valid word.
• The word has already been claimed for the current challenge ("Already Claimed!").

Note: For a quieter game where objections are held to the end, try Secret Wordsmith.

Writing and Discarding

1. Write the claimed word in the next empty line of your score sheet.
2. Check a discard box on your sheet for each leftover letter piece.
3. Discard all leftover letter pieces back to the box tray.

Afterwards use your current player pool to find the next word, adding pieces as needed.

The Discard Boxes

You have only 12 discards. There are 6 free discards (white boxes) and 6 blue boxes worth 1 bonus point each if unchecked.

After you have discarded 12 letter pieces, you must use all the pieces in your player pool to make a word. You can still add letter pieces, but you must use all of them.

At the end of each challenge you get 1 bonus point for each unchecked blue discard box.

End of Challenge

The first player to claim their sixth word shouts "Done!" Now all other players are allowed to build and claim 1 more word, but without adding new letter pieces. Discarding is still allowed as normal.

Note: In the rare case that no player can find another word, the challenge also ends.

Challenge Scoring

1. Each player writes the number of letters of each claimed word in the column to the right.
2. Sum up all uncrossed blue boxes and note your bonus points to the right.
3. Note the total points in the yellow box below.

Before starting the next challenge, put all letter pieces back in their sections of the box tray.

End of the Game

After three challenges, the game ends. Players add up their totals for challenges in the field at the bottom right of their scoring sheets. The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Different Player Levels?

When playing with mixed groups (children and adults, beginners and experienced players, etc.) cross out up to 6 white discard boxes on the score sheets of the advanced players at the beginning of each challenge.

Game Variants

Secret Wordsmith

Each player makes words silently. Ignore the rules for Yelling, Spelling and Objecting. To score the challenge players pass their score sheets to the player on the left. Players check that all words are valid, tally the score, then pass the sheet back. Invalid words score zero.

Note: Identical words are allowed on multiple score sheets.

Advanced Game

Make a 6 letter word or choose 6 random letters. All players write the same letters in the column at the left of the current challenge. Each challenge gets a new set of required letters.

Any claimed word must contain the required letter of its row. You can write a claimed word in any line, you don't have to go from top to bottom.

When you yell and spell your word, you say out loud the required letter you are using (example: "M-A-T-e, OK?").

The Advanced Game adds the objection "Doesn't contain required letter."

Word by Word Game (for 1 – 4 players)

Players claim and score words one at a time. After claiming a word, a player waits for everyone else to claim their words. Solo players just move on to the next word.

Player Pool of Pieces

First, one player rolls 4 dice twice and each player puts the same 8 letter pieces in their player pools.

Adding New Letter Pieces

For each word, including the first word, one player now rolls 3 dice. Re-roll if only wilds have been rolled! All players add red and yellow letter pieces to their player pools. For each wild rolled players note a small circle in the first column on the score pad row for that word. Players take one piece of any type for each wild when they need it and then check one circle. No other rolling is allowed.

Claiming a Word

When claiming a word, you also have to cross out discard boxes for unchecked circles. Discard as usual. After all players have claimed a word, one player rolls 3 dice again to start the next word.

End of Challenge and Game

The challenge ends when all players have claimed six words. Scoring follows the normal rules. Players play 3 or fewer challenges as they wish. The player or players with the most points wins.

If you are playing solo: Try to beat yourself in each challenge!