Boggle is a game where there are lettered dice arranged in a 4 by 4 grid. You have to find as many connected words as you possibly can in just three minutes. The best strategy to improving is to play often and with gusto, but here are few additional tips to up your score.
Step 1
Learn how to play if you do not know how already. Each player searches for words that can be constructed from the letters of sequentially adjacent cubes, where "adjacent" cubes are those horizontally, vertically or diagonally neighboring. Words must be at least three letters long but may not use the same letter cube more than once per word. Note that proper nouns may not be used. In the scoring phase, each player reads off his or her list of discovered words. If two or more players wrote the same word, it is removed from all players' lists and does not count. Points are awarded based on the length of the word, and the winner is the player whose point total is highest, with any ties typically broken by count of longest words. Word LengthPoints31415263758+11
Step 2
Get comfortable and find a rolling pen that writes easily and quickly. Also find something to write on like a book or the back of the game's box. Write legibly and don't forget to relax during gameplay.
Step 3
Ask if you can rotate the board so you can take a fresh look at things. It really helps, but unfortunately it will help your opponent(s) as well.
Step 4
Look hard to find longer words. Your opponent will likely come up with a lot of short common words, but if you have long uncommon words you can rack up the points.
Step 5
Remember to write down words that that make up longer ones. For example if you wrote down "pear" don't forget "ear"! Other examples include "tire" and "ire", "stole" and "ole", "ware" and "are", etc.
Step 6
Identify consonants that combine and use them in words: "S" and "H", "C" and "L", "T" and "R", etc.
Step 7
Look for rhyming words that use the same blocks such as "mile", "pile", and "tile".
Step 8
Accept instead of immediately rejecting the rarer letters. Using "Z", "Qu", or "X" is often the best chance to find words others wont.
Step 9
Spot those compatible word endings. -ing and -er can be applied to multiple words and will really rack up the points. Look for other tenses of verbs as well.
Step 10
Use every plural possible. If there is an "S" that can be tacked on to the end of a word use it.
Step 11
Persevere. Even if you feel completely devoid of creativity and feel like there cannot possibly be anymore words, don't give up.
Step 12
Read! This will improve your vocabulary and give you a pool of useful Boggle words. It will also refresh you on words you already know.
Step 13
Play wordsearches, Scrabble, sudokus, or crosswords. Just try to bring out your inner logic god or goddess.
Step 14
Hone your skills online. This is great for when people wont play with you anymore. You have been warned however! It is extremely addictive and many offer the less traditional 5x5 board. There are several free sites out there (although you may have to sign up for an account).
- WordSplay (basically the same rules and against live users)
- WordTwist (scores words based on rarity instead of length and against high scores)
- Spogg's Spellbound (lots of board space, but few users)
Step 15
Enjoy the game - who cares if you don't win? Just be happy and enjoy the spirit of the game.
Tips
- Be as quick as you can!
- Do anything to develop your linguistic mind.
- Try using a wrist watch or other electronic timer instead of the sand timer that comes with the game. It's easier to not forget that the time has ended.
- You can't just write down bogus words. Any player may challenge the validity of a word during the scoring phase, in which case a dictionary is used to verify or refute it.
- Learning a language can also improve your Boggle scores. The skills needed to understand and learn a new language are also necessary in Boggle.
- Remember to double check (especially longer words) so that you don't make mistakes.
- If you are unable to make a word in one area of the board, don't forget to check the other areas as well. That way you wont be kicking yourself later when someone else reads off the word(s) your were looking for.
Warnings
- Don't brag cockily if you win the game. Consider losing occasionally so people will still want to play with you.
- Don't let your opponent(s) see your words!
- Don't focus too much on the timer or you will become distracted. Also don't let the pencil scratching of your opponents distracts you either!
Things You'll Need
- Boggle game
- Something stiff to write on (the box will do)
- Paper and pen
- Instructions
- Timer (either electronic or sand)
