READY, SET, GO!

UNSCRAMBLE ME

A WORD-SCRAMBLE CHALLENGE WITH A TWIST!

PREPARATION

Player 1 comes up with a word that is between six and ten letters long and writes it down without letting anyone else see. Player 1 scrambles the word. Player 1 then removes one letter and reads the remaining scrambled letters out loud. The other players write the letters down.

NOTE: Plural words are not permitted. In other words, bicycle is fine, but not bicycles.

OBJECTIVE

Players attempt to guess first the missing letter and then the entire word from a list of scrambled letters.

GAME TIME

Player 1 announces the word’s category. The category should be fairly specific, such as animal, US city, food, or sport. The more specific the category, the faster the game will go.

The first player to figure out the word DOES NOT say the word out loud! That player only announces the MISSING LETTER. If Player 1 confirms that the missing letter is correct, then the rest of the players add that letter and compete to figure out the word.

IMPORTANT: The player who said the correct missing letter must be silent and not provide any hint for the rest of the players who are trying to figure out the word.

Play continues as players take turns presenting their scrambled words to the group.

SCORING

The player who first correctly guesses the missing letter earns 2 points. The rest of the players then compete to be the first to figure out the entire word for 1 point. However, if the player who guessed the missing letter guesses incorrectly, Player 1 must reveal the correct letter, and the other players then have the chance to earn 2 points for guessing the correct word.

IMPORTANT: When a player guesses the missing letter incorrectly, that player DOES NOT get to compete for the two points!

EXAMPLE

Let’s say Player 1 says, “My scrambled word is R-A-N-O-K-A-O, and the category is animal.” Then Player 2 figures out that the word is kangaroo and the missing letter is G. Player 2 says, “The missing letter is G.” Player 1 says, “Correct,” and Player 2 earns 2 points. The rest of the players now know that the scrambled letters of the complete word are R, A, N, O, K, A, O, and G. If Player 4 is the first to say “Kangaroo,” Player 4 would earn 1 point.

TIP: You can make this game more challenging by not allowing any writing or by increasing the word length.