Word Fall
Objective: To collect as many words as possible from a grid of cards and to leave no cards left in the field of play.
For one or more players.
Mix the cards (wild cards optional).
Lay out forty-nine cards face up in a seven-by-seven grid.
Starting on the dealer’s left, each player removes cards whose sounds create a word.
Each card that contributes to the formation of a word must be adjacent to the previous card in the word, whether vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Cards can be used twice in the formation of a word, and the same cards can form more than one word.
When cards are removed from the field of play, the affect rows “fall” accordingly, so that there is never an empty space between cards in a given column. If the cards in a given column are exhausted, then the columns to the left and right are moved together. Thus, the seven rows and columns will likely shrink in number over the course of the game.
Tally your score(s): 1 point for each two-card word found; 3 points for each three-card word found; 5 points for each four-card word found; 7 points for each five-card word found; and 10 points for each word found that is six cards long or longer.
If two or more players are playing, the player with the highest score wins.
Play continues until all cards are collected or no further words can be formed.
Possible variations: (1) tally scores based on the length of the words found and not based on the number of cards needed to sound out the word; (2) if playing solo, double your points if you are able to collect all cards; (3) if no more words can be formed with the cards in the field of play, use the five cards that were not dealt to replenish any rows or columns that have been finished, beginning from the bottom left. Continue to introduce those cards (including the wild cards) until a word can be formed.
Note: 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 should agree in advance on how to resolve questions about acceptable respellings. For example, they might chose to consult Dictionary.com or another dictionary of their choice for standard phonetic transcriptions of words.