inconsequential ruminations

I do not enjoy reading GeekLists, as the signal to noise ratio is poor. However, there are some gems, especially the Canonical List of Free Print-and-Play Games GeekLists.

I did not realise, but the author, Don Seagraves, has made a website summarising them all.

Now I just have to get out my craft knife, cutting mat, fixative spray and spray-on glue.

I managed to find a copy of Upwords for £1 in an Oxfam charity (thrift) shop recently. Four of us tried it today and it was pretty fun.

Think of Scrabble, on a 10×10 grid, with no bonuses from squares, where you can stack tiles on top of each other to change words and you have it. The box is too big and the components are typical 80’s mass market stuff, in other words cheap and ugly, but the board swivels on a lazy susan, which is a nice touch.

There is much more luck in Upwords than Scrabble, because you score from the numbers of letters in the stacks used in your words. Therefore the scores climb as the game progresses. The last few turns can turn the game upside down and that largely depends on the tiles you are dealt.

On the other hand, Upwords is more dramatic and there is less reliance on knowing strange Scrabble-specific short words. I recommend playing it with three or four, as the swings of fate encourage a lighter multiplayer game.

My only complaint is that the rules do not forbid players making a word that has been scored earlier, for instance:

1. Player A scores SOLD.
2. Player B scores SOLE.
3. Player C scores SOLD.
4. Player D scores SOLE.

Each time the scores climb higher and higher as stacks grow, but no real thought is involved. It’s a pity this was not banned, as in our game a small skyscraper district rocketed while the rest of the board was forgotten. Next time we will ban it, maybe keeping track by writing scored words on the score pad.

I had more fun playing this than I ever have with Scrabble.

Update
mjwills commented that the maximum stack size is five tiles. I checked in the 1997 ruleset, and there are a few changes to the rules, all for the better, especially this limit. Thanks Matthew.