Boggle is a fun word board game designed by Bill Cooke and Alan Turoff and published by Alga.
Boggle belongs to the same family as Scrabble, Bananagrams, and other popular word games.
However, people find it difficult to grasp the concept behind the game.
Here we will provide and short but the precise step-by-step process on how to play boggle the right way.
Game components
- 16 Letter cubes
- Cube grid with dome
- 3-minute timer
The object of the game
The object of the game is to get more unique words than the other players within a 3-minute time limit.
Number of Players: 1-8
Time: 10 Min
Age: 8+
Setup
Remove the timer from the device and to each player give a pencil or pen and paper. Close the grid with the lid and shake it. Do this until all the letters settle in their respective slots.
Boggle Rules and Gameplay
Flip the timer after everyone is ready and open the lid of the game. Players will then race each other to write as many words as possible.
Word must be three letters long and each sequential letter must be adjacent to the previous letter. Letters are arranged either horizontal, vertical, or diagonally. You must not cross over words; they must be adjacent.
Also, the same word in a different area only counts for one. The “Qu” cube count as two letters and you can use that to get more than one word.
Boggle game rules summarized
Simplified rules of the boggle board game
- Words must contain at least three letters.
- Words cannot be repeated.
- Plural and singular forms of a word can be used.
- “Qu” count as two letters.
- Word found in a different away on the grid is given only one point.
- The “W” and “M” cubes are marked for identification.
Types of Words allowed
Words appearing in any accepted English dictionary can be used irrespective of their tense or form. Words in between words are allowed. For example, if you found the word “Crate”, then rate and ate are also accepted. Words with multiple meanings only get one point.
Wrong words
Proper nouns are not allowed.
End of game
After the timer ends, everyone stops writing. Each player goes through their list out loud and if any player has a duplicate, that word is crossed out and no one is awarded points for that word.
Points are awarded based on the length of your words.
How do you score Boggle?
- 3 – 4 Letters = 1 Point
- 5 Letters = 2 Points
- 6 Letters = 3 Points
- 7 Letters = 5 Points
- 8 or more = 11 Points
Tips for Better Scores
Want to get good at boggle? Here are some quick tips to help you improve your gameplay.
- Look for commonalities and patterns among words.
- Look for words within words. Look for smaller words within larger ones. For example, in the “fear”, you can also get the word “ear”.
- You can add an S to most words you find on the grid so take advantage of it. For example, if you find the word “Car” and if there is an S you will get another word “Cars”.
- Improve your vocabulary using a dictionary. Dictionaries are helpful resources we can use to improve our word bank and therefore see more words on the grid.
- Look for unique words. It is good t write all words you can find but most words are obvious. They will only become duplicates and crossed out.
The player with the most points after the game ends wins.
Want to Play Boggle online?
Here are some of the best boggle online versions
Other Free boggle related apps
You can download these apps for free onto your mobile devices
- Work Shaker Free
- Crush Words – Challenging Word Finding Game
- Word Wow Big City
- Crossword, Anagram and Boggle Solver
- Wordimals – Boggle your brain with our word search
Conclusion
Boggle is one of the best word games out there so learning how to play it is very important. It will improve your mind and offer you the opportunity to make more friends.
Check our other board game here if you love this hobby.
If you don’t own the game yet, buy it here on Amazon.
