Basic rules
General rules
- Each player takes 5 cubes: 2 red (combinations), blue (consonants), 1 white (vowel).
- Players turn their cubes to look for the words that can be made by joining cubes together.
- The first player declares a word by placing up to five cubes on the playing area.
- The points scored are the number of letters in the word(s) formed.
- Additional points are scored for consonants with numbers written on them. For instance w³ scores three points rather than one point.
- Since the first to play cannot build on to another word, only the first player's score is doubled.
- After each turn, players take cubes from stock so that they always hold 5 cubes: 2 red, 1 white, 2 blue.
- Subsequent players place their chosen word on the word-grid, linking it horizontally or vertically with a word(s) already on the grid.
- The end of the game is when all the cubes have been taken from stock and one player has used all his/her cubes.
- The player with the most points wins.
Solo game
- Play either the standard game or the competition game against yourself.
- Using any of the cubes, try to build a rectangular grid so that the finished pattern has as few gaps as possible.
Competition game
- If one word is made then the points scored is identical to the standard game.
- If 2 words are made the points scored are doubled, three words: tripled, four words: quadrupled and five words quintupled.
Three Words Formed
learn (5) + war (5) + on (2)
12 x 3 = 36 points
- The final score is doubled if all 5 cubes are used in one turn.
- The change in the scoring system encourages players to form many word connections. Players will try to maximise their score on every go. It is therefore necessary to impose some form of time limit. This can be achieved by:
- Agreeing the maximum time for each turn and monitoring this with a timing device (stopwatch, countdown timer or sand timer) or:
- Each player has a total time for the game (similar to chess). A countdown timer can be set at 10, 15 or 20 minutes for each player. If a player runs out of time he/she loses the game.
Tips on playing
- Look for ed, er, s, in when you turn your cubes. These will often add on to words like play or add to a g to make an ing ending.
- Try to use the higher value consonants like w³.
- To gain higher scores, connect the word to the grid so that more than one word is formed.
This is possible because the combination letters and cubes enable more word connections than in any other game that is based on tiles and single letters of the alphabet. With 5 cubes players have a choice of 42 letters against 7 letters in a game based on single letter tiles.
First Player
worth (7) x 2
Score = 14 points
One Word Formed
winner (8)
Score = 8 points
Two Words Formed
heron (6) + won (5)
Score = 8 points
Three Words Formed
learn (5) + war (5) + on (2)
Score = 12 points
Five Words Formed
win (5) + on (2) + rat (3) + the (3)
+ innate (6)
Score = 19 points
- Making several short words rather than one long word will often give a larger score.
- Look for ways to link to the word grid and then form your word. For instance in the above example, on links to the grid by making won. Then compose a word that ends in on (in this example heron)
Frequently asked questions
What does h² mean?
The player receives 2 points for using h².
If I use all my 5 cubes in one turn do I get double points?
No. You only get double points if you are playing the competition game.
How much time do you give a player for their turn?
For the standard game, the amount of time for each turn must be agreed between the players before the game.
If there are no more red cubes, can a player take extra of the other colours to make up his hand to five cubes?
No. Once all of one colour is exhausted from the stock, players only take the colours of the cubes that they have used in their turn. This will result in a player holding less than 5 cubes towards the end of a game.
How do I get extra cubes to play with more players or for a longer game?
You can buy packs of 16 cubes from this site for £5.00 + 99p P+P.