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Boggle is a Hasbro word-finding game for two or more players. [1] X Research source Easy to learn but tough to master, Boggle encourages players to make as many words as they can from a random assortment of letters in three minutes. Creativity and quick-thinking are rewarded in this competitive game, so if you're ready to play, learn the simple rules of Boggle right now and start racking up those points !
Steps
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Put the game together. Getting ready to play Boggle only takes a minute or two. Start by putting all of the letter dice in the game board (it looks like a square-ish grid), then put the dome-shaped cover on top.
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Give every player a pencil and paper. Any basic scratch paper will work well. If you're worried about cheaters, you can have each player write on a clipboard or a stiff book.
- Boggle is for two players or more. [2] X Research source
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Scramble the letters. Pick up the grid with the dome on top and the cubes inside. Turn the domed grid upside down and shake to scramble the dice. Turn the grid right side up and give it a few gentle shakes until all of the dice fall into place.
- You want each letter die in its own space before you start.
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Set a time for three minutes. The mini hourglass that comes with Boggle is pre-set to run out of sand in three minutes time. Let all the sand fall to the bottom, then, when you're ready to start, flip it and the game will begin!
- You can also use a watch or digital timer set to three minutes — the hourglass isn't essential.
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Find words by "chaining" letters. The goal of Boggle is to score points by finding words in the random letters in the grid. The letters you use must be touching vertically, horizontally, or diagonally in a chain. You can't skip or "jump" across letters.
- When you find a word, write it down on your paper. At the end of the round, you'll use all of the words you found to figure out how many points you've scored.
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Words must be at least three letters long. Very short words, like "I," "an," and so on are not allowed.
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The same letter can't be used twice in the same word. When you're making a word, you can only use each die once. For example, if you make the word "neon", you can't use the "n" at the start of the word again at the end of the word.
- You can (and should) use the same letter multiple times in separate words. For example, if you find the word "tear," you can use the "a" in words like "apt," "part," and so on.
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Words can go in any direction. The words you find don't have to go right-to-left. They can go up, down, backwards, forwards, and diagonally as long as all of the letters are connected in a chain and each letter is used only once.
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Count each word only once. It's common for simple words to appear on the Boggle board several times. However, you may only write each word once on your piece of paper. In other words, you're trying to see how many different words you can find.
- This rule is also true when a word has more than one definition. For instance, "tear" (a drop of water that comes out of your eye) and "tear" (the act of ripping something) count as the same word. [3] X Research source
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Any word found in an English dictionary is allowed. It's a good idea to have a dictionary handy when you play Boggle to settle disputes. If you can find a word in the dictionary, it's "fair game."
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Plural forms of words count as separate words. For example, if you see the word "apples," you are actually allowed to write down two words: "apple" and "apples."
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Words-within-words are allowed. For example, if you see a word like "Webster," you can also write down "web" "webs." This is an excellent strategy for scoring as many points as possible.
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Know which sorts of words are usually disallowed. Some players choose not to allow the types of words listed below. However, these words are not specifically mentioned in the official Boggle rules provided by Hasbro, which only say that words have to be in a dictionary to count. [4] X Research source
- Proper nouns (i.e., names of specific people, places, etc. that start with a capital letter). [5] X Research source Examples: "Mary," "Cairo," "Microsoft."
- Abbreviations and contractions (i.e., words that use periods or apostrophes to take the place of letters). Examples: "can't," "A.C.L.U."
- Words borrowed from languages other than English. Examples: "tete," 'bushido," "mazeltov."
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Stop writing when the timer runs out. As soon as the three minutes are over, all players must set their pencils down. Even if you notice new words after this point, they can't count towards your score.
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Have each player read off his words. Starting with the player who shook the Boggle grid, all players take turns reading the words they wrote down. As other players read their words, look at your own list and see whether you wrote down any of the same words.
- Whenever two or more players have written down the same word, all players cross this word out. The word will no longer be able to score points for any player.
- When it's your turn to read your words, ignore words that you've already crossed off. You're only trying to name words that there's a chance no one else noticed.
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Count up the letters in your scoring words. When all the players have narrowed their lists down to only the words that no one else has, have them count the number of letters in these words. The number of letters determines how many points each word is worth.
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Score each word by its number of letters. The official Boggle scoring rules are as follows: [6] X Research source
- Three or four letters: One point
- Five letters: Two points
- Six letters: Three points
- Seven letters: Five points
- Eight letters or more: Eleven points
- The "Qu" cube counts as 2 letters even though it takes up one space in the grid. [7] X Research source
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Total up all players' points. Have all the players add up the points from their scoring words. The winner for the round is whoever has the most points overall.
- Alternatively, you can play multiple rounds and have the winner be the first person to reach 50, 100, or more points. The official Boggle rules suggest both game styles. [8] X Research source
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Find longer, less common words to score more points. As a general rule, it's wise to spend your effort finding a few long, difficult words than it is to look for lots of short, easy words. Not only are longer words worth more points — they're also less likely to be found by other players, which means there's a better chance you'll score points from them.
- As an example, scoring a tough eight-letter word like "acquaint" means your opponent has to find eleven unique three- or four-letter words to match your score. Since these easy words are more obvious, it will be much harder for her to find eleven that no one else has found.
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Make the most of plurals. The letter S is your best friend in Boggle. Sticking it at the end of a noun or many verbs will instantly get you an extra word that's one letter longer. It's easy to forget this simple trick, so racking up lots of plurals is a great way to find words that your opponents will overlook.
- Other common prefixes and suffixes can be used in a similar way. For instance, an "-ed" at the end of most verbs will give you a separate word that's two letters longer. Other combinations to look for are "er," "est," "ier," "de," "re," and "es."
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Use anagrams to get lots of short words. Short words may not be the most effective way to get points, but if you're crafty, they can push you over the edge to victory. A good way to find short words that other people won't is to use anagrams — different words made from the same letters. You may be surprised how many words you can make from a handful of five or six letters.
- For instance, if you have the letters H, E, A, R, and T in a cluster, "heart" is the obvious word that everyone will notice. However, it's not as likely that everyone will notice "earth," "rate," "tear," "rat," "heat," "tea," "hater," "art," and the other words made from these letters.
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Use the Boggle challenge cube to boost your score. Some Boggle sets come with a "challenge cube" that you can use in place of one of the other letter dice (chosen at random). Successfully making a word with the challenge cube gives you five extra points for that word, which makes it a great scoring opportunity. Be careful, though — everyone else will be looking to make words with the challenge cube, so look for difficult words that others are unlikely to find.
- When you're playing with the challenge cube, the standard Boggle scoring rules are a little different. See below: [9] X Research source
- Three letters: One point
- Four letters: Two points
- Five letters: Three points
- Six letters: Four points
- Seven letters: Five points
- Eight letters or more: Six points
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Community Q&A
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QuestionShould points be removed for misspelled words?Community AnswerYes, as you need to spell them correctly or else you don't get the points for the word.
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QuestionIs this good to play with second graders?Community AnswerYes, but make it simple/easy. You might want to make it so it's about who has the most words, not the longest.
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Tips
- Unlike Scrabble and other word games, the letters you use don't affect your score. "Hard" letters like Z and so on are just as valuable as easy ones like E. The sole exception here is "Qu", which counts as two letters.Thanks
- Depending on the type of tray you have, you may need to hold down the lid while shaking or the cubes will fall out.Thanks
- Pay attention to the lines below some letters — these tell you which way the letter is oriented. For instance, Z has a line below it so it's not mistaken for N.Thanks
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Things You'll Need
- Boggle
- Paper
- Pencil
- Included hourglass or digital timer
Expert Interview
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about having fun with board games, check out our in-depth interview with Our Family Plays Games .
References
- ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/boggle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/boggle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/boggle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/boggle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.gtoal.com/wordgames/scorcher7/rules.html
- ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/boggle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.fun-with-words.com/play_boggle.html#
- ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/boggle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/boggle.pdf
About This Article
Article Summary
X
Boggle is a word game that can be played with 2 or more players. The goal of the game is to find words within the random combination of letters on the dice in the game tray. To play, first each player is given a piece of paper and a pencil. Set 16 dice up in the plastic tray and place the plastic cover on top. Then, shake the tray to mix up the dice. Remove the plastic cover and make sure each cube on the tray has one die in it. Now, turn the hourglass upside down to start the 3-minute timer. Each player has 3 minutes to write down as many words as they can make using the dice in the tray. Words must be at least 3 letters long, and the letters used to form the word must connect horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. You can form words by moving in more than one direction when chaining letters together, as long as all the letters in the word are connected. No dice may be used more than once when forming a word. Once the 3 minutes are up, each player stops and reads the words they've written down. Any words that appear on more than 1 player's list are crossed out and do not count toward a player's score. Each player is awarded 1 point for words that have 3 or 4 letters, 2 points for words with 5 letters, 3 points for words with 6 letters, and 4 points for words with 7 letters. A word made of 8 or more letters is worth 11 points. The dice with “Qu” printed on it counts as 2 letters. Whoever has the highest number of points wins! For more information on how to play boggle, like how to total points and specific rules, read on!
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Reader Success Stories
- "As I have been playing Big Boggle with my friends and family for over 30 years, it was interesting to note the differences in your rules and ours. We play with 5 letters and up, capital letters (mythological creatures, famous people and places add brain activity to think up), well-known foreign words (my daughter and I both speak German, know about an equal number of Spanish and French words). All of this makes for most challenging games! Thank Hasbro for inventing it! I own 5 games." ..." more
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"As I have been playing Big Boggle with my friends and family for over 30 years, it was interesting to note the differences in your rules and ours. We play with 5 letters and up, capital letters (mythological creatures, famous people and places add brain activity to think up), well-known foreign words (my daughter and I both speak German, know about an equal number of Spanish and French words). All of this makes for most challenging games! Thank Hasbro for inventing it! I own 5 games."
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"I am doing a series of brain training exercises. Today I had to do a grid of Boggle, but had no idea what to do. After reading your article, I played like a pro!"
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"A friend mentioned Boggle is like Scrabble, and he had used it when his daughter was growing up. This diagram solved the mystery of how to play Boggle for me."
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"Had never heard of or seen this game until now. A friend invited me to play and after studying this article I was immediately able to participate successfully."
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"It's very helpful. The mechanics were explained well, as well as the scoring system. Keep up the good work. "
