"Full Deck" Directions
THE CARDS:
• Letter cards – A through Z
• Flip cards – you choose! J or X, V or Z, (indicated by orange dot beneath letter)
• Combo letter cards – the most common consonant combos in the English language: ST, SH, TH, CH, CK plus QU
• (2) Wild/Any Letter Cards
OBJECT OF THE GAME: To earn the most points by forming words using letters from cards in hand, and adding to existing words already played. Game is played in multiple rounds.
GAME SETUP: Dealer shuffles deck and deals 8 cards face down to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table as a draw pile. All players look at their own cards to begin forming word possibilities. You will need paper and pencil to keep score.
PLAYING THE GAME: Player to the left of the dealer (Player One) begins play by constructing ONE 3-or-more letter word and places it face up, fanned closely together like the examples shown, near the tabletop center. Once a word has been played, points are tallied (see scoring instructions below), Player One’s turn is over and he/she draws cards from draw pile to replenish hand to 8 cards. (If no word can be made, see number 4 below.)
Starting with Player Two, player’s turn is completed in one of four ways:
1. By playing one 3-or-more letter word from their hand.
2. By playing single or multiple cards from their hand into any existing word(s) on the table. This is a called a “play- on.” Existing words on the table can be added to or rearranged with cards from the hand inserted anywhere to make a new word. Rearranging produces double points! See examples in scoring section.
WHEN PLAYING ON ANY EXISTING WORDS, WORDS CANNOT BE BROKEN UP; THEY MUST RETAIN ALL ORIGINAL LETTERS.
3. Both of the above (one new word plus any play-ons. Multiple play-ons allowed!)
4. If unable to play a new word or play-on any existing word, player discards as many cards as they choose and draws new cards from draw pile to replenish hand to 8 cards. Discards are shuffled back into draw pile. No points are scored and play proceeds to the next player.
BONUS: If a player is able to play all 8 cards from their hand to make one new word, player earns 25 bonus points in additional to two points per letter.
ALLOWABLE WORDS: Words from a standard dictionary are allowed, as well as words with prefixes and suffixes. Proper names, foreign words and profanity are not allowed. When pluralizing, “S” can only be used in rearranged play-ons; no plurals allowed from new words played from formation, and no use of “S” to pluralize existing words.
OPTION: Players decide whether wild cards and flip cards stay fixed or remain variable during course of play.
SCORING:
New words:
Two points per letter (zero points for Wild Cards) on any new word played from hand. Examples: “BAT” (6 pts); “MILE” (8 pts); “CAMP” (8 PTS) “BOTHER” (12 pts)
Play-ons WITH NO re-arranging of existing letters:
One point per letter in word. Examples:
• Adding an “H” to “BAT” to make “BATH” (4 pts)
• Adding an “S” to “MILE” to make “SMILE” (5 pts)
• Adding “E-R” to “CAMP” to make “CAMPER” (6 pts)
• Adding an “R” to “BOTHER” to make “BROTHER” (7 pts
Play-ons WITH any re-arranging of existing letters:
Two points per letter in word. Examples:
• Adding an “A” to “NUT” to make “TUNA” (8 pts)
• Adding an “I” to “GAME” to make “IMAGE” (10 pts)
• Adding “B-E” to “CREAM” to make “EMBRACE” (14pts)
Play-on scoring exception:
Players can be awarded two points per letter without re-arranging if they add multiple letters to an existing word, providing at least one of the letters is added into the body (between the first and last letter) of the word. Examples:
• Adding “S-B” to “TALE” to make “STABLE” (12 pts)
• Adding “S-T” to “JUICE” to make “JUSTICE” (14 pts)
OPTION FOR ADVANCED PLAY (for any Play on Words version):
Besides no "S" or E-S" endings as play-ons, also no "D", "E-D", "R", or "E-R". All other play-on word endings allowed.
END OF GAME: Players continue turns to make or play on words until deck is depleted and no further words can be played. Any cards not played from player’s hand count as a deduction of one point per letter from their score. Highest game score wins. An official match is two games. If tied after two games, break tie with the Starter Game.
• Letter cards – A through Z
• Flip cards – you choose! J or X, V or Z, (indicated by orange dot beneath letter)
• Combo letter cards – the most common consonant combos in the English language: ST, SH, TH, CH, CK plus QU
• (2) Wild/Any Letter Cards
OBJECT OF THE GAME: To earn the most points by forming words using letters from cards in hand, and adding to existing words already played. Game is played in multiple rounds.
GAME SETUP: Dealer shuffles deck and deals 8 cards face down to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down in the center of the table as a draw pile. All players look at their own cards to begin forming word possibilities. You will need paper and pencil to keep score.
PLAYING THE GAME: Player to the left of the dealer (Player One) begins play by constructing ONE 3-or-more letter word and places it face up, fanned closely together like the examples shown, near the tabletop center. Once a word has been played, points are tallied (see scoring instructions below), Player One’s turn is over and he/she draws cards from draw pile to replenish hand to 8 cards. (If no word can be made, see number 4 below.)
Starting with Player Two, player’s turn is completed in one of four ways:
1. By playing one 3-or-more letter word from their hand.
2. By playing single or multiple cards from their hand into any existing word(s) on the table. This is a called a “play- on.” Existing words on the table can be added to or rearranged with cards from the hand inserted anywhere to make a new word. Rearranging produces double points! See examples in scoring section.
WHEN PLAYING ON ANY EXISTING WORDS, WORDS CANNOT BE BROKEN UP; THEY MUST RETAIN ALL ORIGINAL LETTERS.
3. Both of the above (one new word plus any play-ons. Multiple play-ons allowed!)
4. If unable to play a new word or play-on any existing word, player discards as many cards as they choose and draws new cards from draw pile to replenish hand to 8 cards. Discards are shuffled back into draw pile. No points are scored and play proceeds to the next player.
BONUS: If a player is able to play all 8 cards from their hand to make one new word, player earns 25 bonus points in additional to two points per letter.
ALLOWABLE WORDS: Words from a standard dictionary are allowed, as well as words with prefixes and suffixes. Proper names, foreign words and profanity are not allowed. When pluralizing, “S” can only be used in rearranged play-ons; no plurals allowed from new words played from formation, and no use of “S” to pluralize existing words.
OPTION: Players decide whether wild cards and flip cards stay fixed or remain variable during course of play.
SCORING:
New words:
Two points per letter (zero points for Wild Cards) on any new word played from hand. Examples: “BAT” (6 pts); “MILE” (8 pts); “CAMP” (8 PTS) “BOTHER” (12 pts)
Play-ons WITH NO re-arranging of existing letters:
One point per letter in word. Examples:
• Adding an “H” to “BAT” to make “BATH” (4 pts)
• Adding an “S” to “MILE” to make “SMILE” (5 pts)
• Adding “E-R” to “CAMP” to make “CAMPER” (6 pts)
• Adding an “R” to “BOTHER” to make “BROTHER” (7 pts
Play-ons WITH any re-arranging of existing letters:
Two points per letter in word. Examples:
• Adding an “A” to “NUT” to make “TUNA” (8 pts)
• Adding an “I” to “GAME” to make “IMAGE” (10 pts)
• Adding “B-E” to “CREAM” to make “EMBRACE” (14pts)
Play-on scoring exception:
Players can be awarded two points per letter without re-arranging if they add multiple letters to an existing word, providing at least one of the letters is added into the body (between the first and last letter) of the word. Examples:
• Adding “S-B” to “TALE” to make “STABLE” (12 pts)
• Adding “S-T” to “JUICE” to make “JUSTICE” (14 pts)
OPTION FOR ADVANCED PLAY (for any Play on Words version):
Besides no "S" or E-S" endings as play-ons, also no "D", "E-D", "R", or "E-R". All other play-on word endings allowed.
END OF GAME: Players continue turns to make or play on words until deck is depleted and no further words can be played. Any cards not played from player’s hand count as a deduction of one point per letter from their score. Highest game score wins. An official match is two games. If tied after two games, break tie with the Starter Game.
