Word Wars

For my Game Studies class, I developed a paper game called Word Wars. It is a derivative of Scrabble, in which there is no point bias for the letters (i.e., every tile is worth one point). To make this game, all one needs is a standard set of scrabble pieces, or one could make the tiles out of 50 small pieces of paper. This is the letter distribution for the tiles:

Tile Letters (Format: LETTER – NUMBER OF TILES)

• A – 5
• B – 1
• C – 1
• D – 2
• E – 6
• F – 1
• G – 1
• H – 1
• I – 4
• J – 1
• K – 1
• L – 2
• M – 1
• N – 2
• O – 4
• P – 1
• Q – 1
• R – 3
• S – 2
• T – 2
• U – 2
• V – 1
• W – 2
• X – 1
• Y – 1
• Z – 1

And this is the final version of The Rules:

Rules  

• Every player is given a pile of 25 tiles, which each have a letter on them, but plays with a hand of 7 tiles each. (Tile distribution is listed below.)
• Each player lays down letters to make words a la Scrabble.
• If a player runs out of tiles, the opposing player makes successive turns until either they use all of their tiles, or they cannot make another word.
• If both players successfully use all of their tiles, both players count the tiles in play and split the points.
• If one player uses all of their tiles and the other does not, the player who used all of their tiles wins.
• In any case, if a player cannot make a word with their tiles, they must either forfeit the round or trade tiles (see below).
• If a player wins, they collect all the tiles in play and tally their score. All tiles are then reshuffled and redistributed for the next round.
• Players continue for 2-5 rounds, and whoever has the highest score wins.
• Trading: If a player so chooses, they may trade any number of the tiles in their hand. However, each tile they trade gives the opposing player that many points, which they tally immediately. Traded tiles go back into the player’s pile, and the pile gets reshuffled.
• Sudden Death: If a player cannot make a word with their current hand, then they may choose to call Sudden Death: They give their hand to the opposing player. If the opposing player can successfully use all of their remaining tiles, plus the opposing player’s tiles, they win the round, and double their points. However, if they cannot use all these tiles, the opposing player wins the round (but does not double their points). A player may refuse Sudden Death.

As one can see from the rules, the core mechanic would probably be a Race to the Finish, as players are essentially trying to use up all their tiles first.

For those interested, here is my log of play tests, which details the evolution of the game, and the changes it underwent:

Play Log

•   Play Test 1 (18 Sept. 2013)
  • After the first play test, I realized having all the tiles at once made the game very confusing initially. 25 tiles is too many options when trying to create a word. So I decided to stick with the way Scrabble does it: each player has a hand of 7 tiles, and draws from their own pile after each turn to maintain 7 tiles.
  • To help with a reduced hand size, I thought a trading mechanism would be beneficial for situations when the player’s current hand isn’t very good. However, I felt there must be some kind of drawback to trading tiles, so I decided giving the opposing player some points would be sufficient.
• Play Test 2 (28 Sept. 2013)
  • After watching a player lose after the other player had used all their tiles, I realized that the opposing player still has their tiles left, and they should have a chance to try to use them up. So I tweaked the rules regarding winning, introducing the possibility of a tie. If both players manage to use all their tiles, they will split the points.
  • I had an idea that introducing some kind of way to save oneself from losing a round might make things interesting. So I thought of Sudden Death, which is described in the rules.
• Play Test 3 (30 Sept. 2013)
  • Saw that there wasn’t much use of Sudden Death, but I think it’s still a fun thing to have. I thought maybe with less tiles, the game might go faster, but upon some thought, the letter distribution is already pretty thin with only 50 tiles, so I decided to make no changes.

Here are the earlier versions of my rules, for comparison with the final rules above:

Initial Rules

• Every player is given 25 tiles with letters on them.
• Each player lays down letters to make words a la Scrabble.
• If a player runs out of tiles, s/he wins the round.
• If a player can no longer make a word with their tiles, they lose the round.
• If a player wins, they collect all the tiles in play and tally their score.
• Players continue for 2-5 rounds, and whoever has the highest score wins.

And finally, a picture of the game in action during one of my play tests!