Boxwords

Boxwords is an intriguing pen and paper game which is suited to adults and older children. It can also be used as a parlor game.

Age: Adults and older children

No. of players: 2 or more

Equipment: Pen/pencil and paper for each player

Time: 10 minutes+

Aim: To score the most points by placing letters in boxes.

1. Each player draws up a grid consiting of twenty five squares - five squares across by five squares down. If there are more than five players, or to make the game harder, you could draw a seven by seven grid.

2. Players take it in turns to call out letters at random. Every player writes the letter in a square of their choice. The aim is to create words with at least two letters, either vertically or horizontally (but not diagonally).

3. When every square is filled with a letter, players add up their scores. They achieve one point per letter for each word. If there are two or more words in any row, they can be scored separately, but no letter can appear in more than one word. For example, if one row had the letters "O F A N D", you could score two points for "OF" and three points for "AND" but you could not count "FAN" since its letters are already used in the other two words. A five letter word which fills an entire row is given a bonus point (that is, a five letter word is worth six points).

4. Play can continue indefinitely. When the game is finally over (after an agreed time or number of rounds), the player with the highest total score is the winner of Boxwords.

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