Vocabulation
Objective: To build words using as many cards in the deck as possible. The game ends when all cards are exhausted or no more words can be formed from remaining cards. Vocabulation combines classic solitaire gameplay with phonics-based word building.
For one player.
Shuffle the deck.
Deal out seven columns of cards, with the first column containing one card, the second containing two cards, and so on, until the seventh column contains seven cards. All cards should be face down except for the top card in each column, which is face up. Remaining cards will be used as a stock pile.
Move cards between columns according to the following rules:
A card can be moved onto another card to form a syllable or word.
Once a word has been formed, the cards that form the word are removed from the column and placed away from the columns.
If a column ends up empty, the empty space can be filled with any card that is face up in the other columns or that is uncovered from the stock pile.
If you reach a point where no more moves are possible, draw three cards from the remaining deck and flip them over in discard pile. You can then draw from this discard pile as needed, but only the top card is available for play.
If you can’t move any more face up cards, you can utilize the stock pile by flipping over the third card in the stock pile. This card can be added to a column or a completed word. If you cannot play the card anywhere, put the card in a waste pile and try to play the previous card in the pile.
The game ends when all cards have been used or when no more words can be made from remaining cards.
Notes:
Wild Cards: The two wild cards in the deck can represent any phoneme in the deck.
Time Limit: Players can add a time limit to the game for added challenge.
Scoring: Players can keep track of their scores based on how quickly they complete the game or based on a point system based on the number of words that were formed or the number of cards that remain.
Stacking the Deck: For easier play, consider removing some vowels and less common consonants from the deck. For example, play with 50 cards or 44 cards.
As words can be pronounced differently depending on accent and dialect, there can be more than one way to transcribe a word phonetically. Thus, players might chose to consult Dictionary.com or another dictionary of their choice for standard phonetic transcriptions of words.