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| Parker Brothers 1980 edition |
Publisher: Parker Brothers
Designer: Allan Turoff
Year: 1972
Price Paid: $2
Playing Time: 20-30 minutes
Recommended Ages: 8 and up
Synopsis: Boggle is a word game for 2 to 6 players which you attempt to find as many unique words as you can in a given time limit from a 4x4 grid of letter cubes (dice).
Components: 16 letter cubes, cube tray, tray dome, 3 minute sand timer. Needed, but not included, paper and pen/pencil for each player
Letter cube faces:
A-B-O-J-M-Qu
N-T-G-V-E-I
A-E-D-M-P-C
A-D-E-N-V-Z
A-O-I-A-C-T
E-L-U-P-S-T
I-R-O-F-B-X
R-O-M-A-H-S
E-E-Y-I-F-H
I-S-E-H-N-P
T-O-K-U-D-N
W-G-L-R-I-U
D-E-N-O-S-W
C-L-S-R-A-E
A-B-I-L-T-Y
L-G-K-Y-U-E
Thrifting Notes: The letter cubes are the same for all variants of Boggle (Big Boggle, etc) and missing cubes can be scavenged from any variant.
Gameplay: The game is set up by first giving each player a piece of paper and writing implement, then putting all the letter cubes into the tray dome. Put the tray upside-down on the dome, turn the tray and dome right-side up, shaking the cubes and moving the tray until all the cubes are in place in the grid and laying flat. This is best done at eye level to ensure both that the cubes are flat and that no one can see the letters on top. The tray is then set down between all the players, the dome is removed, the timer is started, and players have three minutes to find as many words as possible and write them in a list. Once time is up, the round is over and players compare their lists for scoring (see below).
Words are formed from adjoining letters, vertically, horizontally or diagonally. No letter cube may be used more than once per word, backtracking is not allowed, no proper nouns may be used. Plurals may count as separate words, and words within words, such as “spare, spa, par, are, spar, pare” are also acceptable. Words with the same spelling and different meanings are not counted more than once and the same word in different locations in the grid are also not counted more than once.
Players are trying to find unique words: words that no other player has found. If any other player has the same word written down, everyone with that word must cross that word off from their list. At the end of the round, players will, one at a time, read off their list of words, and all players will follow along, crossing off any duplicates. Once all players have read their lists and all duplicates have been removed, scoring commences.
Scoring is a simple scale based on the length of the word discovered. For each unique word remaining in a player’s list, they will receive the following points:
Num. Letters - Points
3 - 1
4 - 1
5 - 2
6 - 3
7 - 5
8+ - 11
Words that use the ‘Qu’ face of the letter cube count each letter, not just the cube, so, for example, ‘squid’ would be a 5 letter word. Once scoring is completed, a new round begins. The game is over when a player reaches the target score. In the original rules, the target score was “50 points, 100 points, or whatever score is considered by all to be a reasonable target”.
Review: Boggle is a good game. Not a great game, but a good one. If you are not a fan of word games, then this will not, obviously, be enjoyable, but for those that enjoy a bit of wordplay, this is a fun, accessible game that can be played with most anyone of varying skill levels. The randomness of the setup keep it fresh, the need for unique words force you to write down any word you see, to defend against your opponents scoring, rather than just look for longer, higher-scoring words and the three minute timer keeps the game moving apace. There is a little strategy involved, deciding what length of words to search for, how long to spend on each area of the grid, etc, but nothing deep at all. A full game should take no more than 30 minutes, a little more with more players.
What keeps this from being a great game are a few issues. Firstly, it is rather easy to memorize patterns of letters that are commonly seen. The randomness is good in the game, but with a 4x4 grid, there are only so many combinations possible. Once these patterns are recognized, it becomes more of an exercise in fast writing rather than word searching. This can be addressed with house rules, limiting certain common words, for example, but will make the game a bit less fun. Also, whomever removes the dome to start the round and turns the timer will have slightly less time than the rest of the players. This sounds minor, and it is, but it is still a disadvantage. Additionally, it does not scale well with more players. It is at it’s best as a two player game, with good head-to-head competition. Up to four players, it still scales well, though scoring tends to be lower as more duplicates are common. With five or more players, the reading of lists can be a bit slow, and the game becomes more about finding obscure words, as most common words will be found by at least two players. Also, and this is a minor quibble that was rectified in Big Boggle, the translucent dome makes it difficult to prepare the grid without seeing some of the letters. Big Boggle added a dome cover to block the faces of the cubes, which helps.
All in all, Boggle is a good, fast game that can be played together with people of all ages. The box says ages 8 and up, and that seems reasonable. It is easy to teach quickly, can be challenging, especially with people of the same skill level. A pleasant diversion, and a good, vintage word game that is not Scrabble.
Rating: 6/10
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