Wordsy is a streamlined re-implementation of Prolix, a word game from 2010.
Each round, players study the 8 letters (always consonants) on the board in real time. The first player to write down a word flips a 30-second timer. That player is now the fastest player, and every other player now has 30 seconds to write down their word.
Once time has run out, the fastest player scores their word by counting the point value of each of the matching letters on the board. Players are not limited to the letters on the board; they can add any letters they’d like. Letters score based on which of the 4 columns of the board they’re in, and how rare they are.
After the fastest player scores, the first player clockwise scores their word, and compares it to the fastest player. If that player scored more than the fastest player, they score a small bonus.
Every other player scores their word and checks for a bonus. Once they’ve all done this, the fastest player scores a bonus if their score is equal to or higher than half the other player’s scores.
The Components
The version I received is in prototype, so I can’t speak to the graphics and artwork too much. Wordsy comes in a small box, that looks like an old leather bound book, which fits the “theme” of the game well. The game consists of a stack of cards each with a different letter on it, some with colors and numbers to donate their rarity and bonus point potential. It also comes with a sand timer (Which there was a mix up with my prototype shipment, and I did not get, so I used one I had) , Also, comes with a nice stack of scoring sheets. Finally, it has four scoring column cards each with a different point value. NOTE- All pictures in this preview are of the prototype version, that was sent to me, this is not the final product, and all parts/graphics will change.
How to play:
Each round, players study the eight letters on the board at the same time. The first player to think up a word and write it down can grab the 30 second timer. That puts all the other players on the clock to come up with a word. When time runs out, the person who grabbed the timer scores his or her word first, and gets bonus points if he or she can beat at least half of the other players. Of course, the slower players also get a bonus if they beat the first player.
Once the seven rounds are done, players score their best five words plus any bonuses. The player with the most points is declared the winner.
Keep in mind you are not limited to the letters that you have on the board, you can use any letters you want to! you will only get a score for any letter that is on your board though, something to keep in mind.
Oh yeah, there are also penalty marks. If someone comes up with a word that you think isn’t really a word, you can challenge it. If you are right and it isn’t a word, they score zero pts for that round. If they were right, you have to mark a penalty mark on your scoresheet. For each of these at the end of the game, you subtract 2 pts.
Also you can’t use a word that was used in a previous round by someone else, or even a version of that word (plural, tense, adding a suffix).
So, on my board here, I can make quite a few words :
Ham, Damp, The, Mad, Tamper, Tap, Youth, You, Bad, Blood
The word Youth would be my best score with 13, Blood would net me 5 points.
Final Thoughts
This is very fun word game, I like the fact that you are not bound by what letters you have, you can pull letters out thin air, to make a word, but you have to keep in mind the points on the board, and which would give you the best option to score, as you can only score off a word on the board once.
In the 30 seconds, you have you can write down as many words as you want, but you need to be fast to figure out the best score you can get, it challenges you to think fast. I think any word game fan, will love the different twist that Wordsy puts on the standard word game.
The game is very small, so it will be easy to take with you, this could be one of those games you will find your self playing anywhere you have a bit of table space, fast play as well.
This will make a great beer & pretzels game, to start off your game night, as people are showing up, pop a cold beer and challenge each other.
Wordsy is another great game from Gil Hova and Formal Ferret Games.
The Kickstarter will launch on November 1st and we will be sure to link the kickstarter and keep track of it’s progress.
In case you want to get a taste of the game, for yourself right now, Gil has set up a Twitter bot that plays the game with you
In case you missed it, we did an Interview with Gil talking about his games and thoughts on the board game industry, you can listen it that here.
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