Word Game Reviews

Following the easy directions I was up and playing in minutes of opening the box. One thing to keep in mind is that there are small wooden tile, so you need to keep that small children away from the game.

Within 5 categories you have to finish the lines to collect tiles and fill up your space, first one to do this is the winner. You have lines from music, TV, speeches, proverbs and even books. There are 500 cards and the game plays fairly quickly, one thing is that the limited amount of cards will have you repeating some cards in a short amount of time.

I found that I was able to complete the game in about 30 to 45 minutes and you can have up to 6 players and the more the merrier. While the game is made for teenager to adult, some of the phrases will give the younger crowd a little trouble, but that's the fun of the game. Also I found that team play or men vs. women adds a whole new twist to the game.

Overall this was great party or family game and is made for just about any occasion. I certainly hope that there is additional card sets as I can see this game doing very well.

I have played this game with family and friends and it is very addicting, in a good way.

We had hours and hours of fun and you never get tired of this game.

As compared to other "mind" games, this one beats them all!

I do hope the manufacturer continues to make more question cards, so we can continue playing this game for many more years.

Great job!! With the holidays coming up, Finish Lines would make a great gift.

And is a game about spelling worth your time? The short answer is if you collect party games, then yes. If you only need a few party games, then no.

A longer answer follows.

First, a short description of the game:

The game is extremely simple. First, like most party games, everyone is split into two teams, that do not have to be even. The games only contents are two six-sided dice, with words printed on each side, a one minute timer, 300 cards with 6 words on each, and a score pad. As usual with party games, and even more so with Coodju, this pad can easily be replaced with a piece of paper. In Coodju's case, all it is a paper split into two sections, to keep track of the points for each team.

A player is chosen on one of the teams to start. He rolls two dice. One die determines how words are to spelled. They can be the following... (Using Spaghetti as the example word)

FORWARD (easy) - S-P-A-G-H-E-T-T-I
BACKWARD (fairly easy) - I-T-T-E-H-G-A-P-S
VOWEL (easy, only the vowels) - A-E-I

CONSONANT (fairly easy, only the consonants) - S-P-G-H-T-T
SKIP A LETTER (every other letter) - S-A-H-T-I
OUTSIDE IN (hard, first letter, than last letter, then second letter, than second last letter, etc.) -
S-I-P-T-A-T-G-E-H

There are 6 words on a card. Normally, the first five words are worth one point each, while the last word - the bonus word - is worth 5 points. However, the other die can modify the scoring of the words. The following are the modifications the die can make.

DOUBLE POINT - Means exactly that, all points this round are doubled.
TRIPLE POINT - Our favorite, giving 15 points for that bonus word!
DOCK 'M - The amount of points your team makes are also deducted from the opposing team's score.
DOUBLE TIME - You have 2 minutes instead of 1 to spell the words.
PASS - You are allowed to pass over regular words instead of spelling them.
OVERRIDE - You can pick the way words are spelled (on the other die)

At this point, the player flips the timer and pulls a card. He read the words to one of his teammates, who then spells it. If the word is spelled correctly, the reading player reads the next word. If not, play is passed to a different teammate who must spell the word. If no one on a team can spell a word correctly, then the word is thrown out. The reader is allowed to pronounce things wrong to help his teammates spell them. For example, he could pronounce Candidate as "Can - did - ate". If a team finishes a card, another card is drawn and read until time runs out. Then, points are totaled for the amount of words spelled correctly.

The game is played until one team reaches a certain amount of points (usually 100) at which time the game ends and that team wins!

Comments on the Game:

1). Components - The components in this game are not great, but they work well. The box is VERY nice, as it is a good size, has trays for all the components, and has a short, very clear summary of the rules on the sides of the box. The box is very sturdy and looks good on the shelf. The dice are nice, but with a lot of playing, the words could rub off. (I doubt you would play the game THAT much). The cards are not super quality, but they work for what is needed. They are easy to read, which is important.

2). Web Site - I'm always impressed when a game has good support from the company. Coodju has a nice web site up, with downloadable rules (always a plus!) and some variants on the game. The website looks good, and is easy to navigate at www.coodju.com

3). Fun Factor - I was really surprised. While this game didn't blow my socks off like Apples to Apples or Time's Up, it was a lot of fun. I expected everyone to hate it, as it was about spelling, but everyone really liked it. Some of the pronunciations that people made of the words cracked the whole crowd up. Some words that we thought easy to spell just weren't. Everyone cheered when rolling a "Triple points" and booed when rolling an "Outside In." The game works well with all ages, and was a lot of fun.

4). Time and Place - This game plays very quickly - as you can set the amount of points you play to. Games can last from 15 minutes to 45 minutes, and are fun. Also, the game works well on trips. We played it on a bus traveling, and it wasn't too hard. We rolled the dice in the box lid and shouted the words to be heard over the bus noise. Everyone had a good time. It's easy to throw this game into my traveling backpack of games.

5). And Yet - While everyone liked the game, it just wasn't as much fun as many of our other party games. I'm sure we'll play it again, as it was fun, but I have about 20 party games, and this one isn't one of the top ones asked for.

So, in conclusion - I recommend that you get the game if you find it somewhere for an inexpensive price, and you collect party games. But if you only keep a few party games, and concentrate on war , German, or abstract games - you should pass. But don't let a hatred for spelling deter you - the game is still a lot of fun. I should no, becuz I amm a horrribel spellir.

1) Don't buy batteries (not included w/ the game). Really, there isn't much use for the buzzer, & it can be extremely annoying. There's enough excitement with the gameplay itself. The opposing team can just yell out "buzz," if they so desire.

2) Relatedly, the only things that you really need are the cards. The rest is just fluff. If you are familiar with the concept & rules, save yourself some $ and buy a booster pack. The booster is simply another stack of the cards with new words.

3) As in a lot of newer games, there are the inevitable current event (or not so current) related topics. If you don't know who Kenneth Starr or John Glenn are, you will be stymied on a few.

4) The better you know your partner(s), the better you will do. A lot of points come from saying stuff like: "Remember when we..." Try mixing up the teams for a fairer game.

Don't let these stop you from trying out this game, however. It's a ton of fun & has long-lasting appeal.

My wife and I compete fiercely. We slightly modify the rules. For example,we allow two turns of the timer per board, allowing us more time to develop words. We say that the game is over after three boards; then we start a new game. This keeps it interesting if someone falls decisively behind. We also give two bonus points (13 in total) if someone develops a nine-letter word. (Play the game, see how difficult THAT is, then you'll see why we think it deserves a bonus.)

I am fortunate to have found a VERY old Big Boggle game in my mother's basement. This game is good, but the BEST game is Master Boggle. I cannot find it anywhere, but my father has it. The mix of letters allows you to develop really cool, exotic words. Last week, I spelled "gestalt."

Our family has been playing this game with dry erase boards for a while now. Not only does it save on paper, it is so much more fun. There are new strategies in eraseing pictures and using multiple colors. It really changed our game nights with these boards. My husband just purchased whiteboards at, eraseboards.com(?), I think. Pretty affordable. Every Pictionary owner should try using dry erase.

1. Each player has his/her own imagination. So no matter how often you play the game, each player might draw or guess differently the same card!

2. It's fun for parents to enjoy it with their teens.

3. It's fun for friends to play it together.

4. It's fun when men play against their wives (oh I love this one)!

Do you know it's very difficult to draw simple objects? Just try drawing anything and see what others guess it. Oh sometime they go very far that even if you wanted them to guess that word they'd have not :-)

One of the best games that are as good as this one (if not better) is Taboo! Have fun...

Kismet offers many of the same scoring sections and rules of Yacht, (including the pip totals for Full Houses and minus the "Little Straight"), with the addition of 3 of A Kind (from Yahtzee), Flush, Full House (same color) and 2 Pair (same color). The upper, or Basic section also has a bonus for obtaining a high score; the higher the score, the higher the bonus so a more aggressive approach is required when deciding where to put your best rolls. The game's Poker background is much more obvious with the additional scoring combinations. The dice are tri-colored: ones and sixes are black, threes and fours are red and twos and fives are red. Fans of dice games also know that the sum of these opposite numbers of the same color total seven. These colors offer new challenges in scoring in categories requiring an identical color. Another marked difference is in the lower, or Kismet section; both Full House sections, 4 of a Kind and Kismet (5 of a Kind) award a bonus when gaining the respective score in those sections. Perhaps the most daunting (and probably the most cutthroat) difference in Kismet is revealed when scoring a second Kismet. When playing against other opponents, all other players must score a zero in the Basic or Kismet section near the top of either section AND lose their turns while the player who scored the second Kismet rolls again. This can continue as long as that same player continues additional Kismets! My only problems are with the dice cup; it is much too narrow to shake the dice properly, it's a bit flimsy and is definitely not as pictured on the box. The game also does not make provisions for purchasing additional score pads; these are essential for constant play alone or with groups. Kismet is a fun must have for any lover of dice games, and for fans of the Yacht game family looking for an additional challenge.

Anyway, to play Scattegories, first you choose a letter and a list. Say the letter was "G" and the list included "boy names". Well, if I put Gregory, and so did one of my sisters, neither of us would get the point. If someone repeats your answer, you don't get any points. However, say I put "Gavin", Jordan put "Gregory" and Taryn put "Guy", then we'd all get the point. You have to make sure to think outside of the box (don't put the most popular band as an answer, or the city you live in!).