Tabletop Tuesday - Boggle

Welcome to another edition of Tabletop Tuesday - Your weekly exploration into games of dice, cards, luck and more of the Tabletop world.

This week's game...the game that was cool at the pool before other text twist spin-offs that is Boggle.

Players: 2+
Time: 5 minutes per round
Genre: Word Game



Another perfect game for some summer fun at the pool, Boggle is easily portable, requiring only a few scraps of paper and pens for each player in addition to its tiny box, and also plays in short or long spurts depending on your desire.  Taking a tray of 16 dice, players shake them up and create a 4x4 grid of letters in which to search for words.  Players then have 3 minutes to find as many 3-letter or longer words within this grid.  Each die can only be used once per word, but players can navigate the grid vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to spell words.  Once time finishes, players read off their words and calculate scores.  Any duplicate words with other players cancel out each other for no points, and each additional letter past 4-letter words earns additional points (example: 5-letter words are worth 2 points).

The word "PRESS" can be spelled in this grid for 2 pts.  What other words can you spot?

Boggle is great as it expands your vocabulary as you play, encouraging players to teach each other new words for new ways to score points each game.  It also requires players to learn pattern recognition skills and tricks.  For example, when the letters E, A, and T are next to each other, you can often spell 3 words for these 3 letters (eat, tea, ate).  Also, make use of the letter S for plural words, which can score you an extra point or more depending on the length of the word.  There are also several variations of Boggle, such as ones with a 5x5 grid but don't allow 3-letter words.  I recommend Boggle for those who enjoy reading or work well under pressure.

If you have any questions about Boggle, let me know in the comments.  Otherwise, look forward to future installments of Tabletop Tuesday.  Until then, happy dice rolling!