Some of my friends have a weekly Tuesday night Game Night that's been ongoing for months. There's a different location and turnout of people each week, and this past Tuesday I joined Richard and Dylan at the Dog & Duck Pub for some fun and pints.
We grabbed a picnic table on the deck and started out by playing the card game Sh*thead. Richard and I used to play this game with friends back in college at the Draught Horse Pub, but Dylan had never played before so we walked him through a test game before playing for real. Dylan picked the game up very quickly and I unfortunately ended up winning (via losing) the title of sh*thead.
The wind was picking up and threatening to carry our cards off with it, so we moved inside for a quieter environment. I'd grabbed my bag of Scrabble letters before I left my house, and the guys were interested in learning a new game. I think I first played this game with a guy I dated years ago, and I never did find out what it's called. (If you know the name, please comment.)
All you need to play is the letters from a Scrabble game (no need for any of the rest of it), a flat surface and at least one other person to play with. The object of the game is to spell words that are three letters or longer. Words can (and should) be stolen from other players -- you can steal a word by adding and rearranging letters to create a new word, but you can only add letters (not subtract or break them up into smaller words). At the end of the game, count up the point value of the letters in all the words you've collected and the person with the most points wins. You can play with 2-6 players.
Here's how the game is played:
- Place all the Scrabble letters face down in the middle of the table. (Remove the two blank tiles when you come across them.)
- The first player turns over one letter. (For example, "B")
- The next player turns over one letter. (Example, "D")
- The next player turns over one letter. (Example, "E")
- The first person to yell out "BED!" gets to take all the letters and spell the word out in front of them, facing the other players.
- The person who just formed a word resumes play by turning over one letter. (Example, "P")
- The next player turns over one letter. (Example, "A")
- The first person to yell out "BEAD!" (or "bade") takes the A and adds it to B, E, and D. Any player can yell out the new word, meaning you might be able to add to your own word or it might get stolen by someone else. Stealing words from your opponents is highly encouraged and half of the fun of the game!
I find this game way more exciting, stressful and action-packed than traditional Scrabble. You're constantly looking back and forth at your words and everyone else's, anticipating the possibilities that each new turned-over tile can create. You end up playing offense and defense by shouting things out as quickly as possible, as words are rapidly created, built upon and stolen.
You can also get into some rousing disputes over the validity of words, just like in the original game. Richard tried to pass off several made up words and British slang words, which Dylan and I promptly denied. We did let him get away with "qis" though, which I still think was way too generous.
Being the most experienced, I won the first game, but the guys were keen to play again immediately. At which point Richard proceeded to absolutely kill us. At the end, Dylan and I ended up with I think two words each, and Richard scored an impossible 133 points.
However, I did feel quite good when I stole Richard's word "maim" to spell "maxim".
We took a brief break for the guys to walk me through the complexities of Cribbage, with Dylan keeping score on that bizarre little peg-board racetrack, but after three rounds we were ready for a final game of Scrabble-letters, a.k.a. the grudge match. I'd rested up and calmed down enough to focus on bringing Richard down a few notches by winning! There's no doubt we have created a monster though, and I apologize in advance to his friends and loved ones.