How to play Spellingo

Preparation:

Basic game for younger and beginners:

Explain the cards using the labelling card. Divide the cards with a white dot into red and blue piles. Shuffle each pile well. Each player always receives 14 cards (7 red and 7 blue). Put the rest of the cards in separate piles face down in the middle of the table.

Extension pack for advanced players:

Take the cards with 3 white dots, shuffle them separately and put them next to the other piles. There are now 4 piles in the centre of the table. Distribute 14 cards to each player as follows: 5 red and 5 blue with 1 point each and 2 red and 2 blue with 3 points each.

Gameplay

1. The youngest player starts the game and draws a card from the pile that he or she could use.

2. Now the player may lay out as many words as he can form with his letters and jokers.

3. If he cannot lay out any more words, he may discard a card, but he does not have to. The discard is on one card.

4. Now it is the next player's turn.

5. The game moves clockwise

6. until one player has got rid of all his cards.

7. the player with the highest score wins.

8. it is allowed to touch oneself and the opponent.

9. the points go to the player who laid the word.

Joker

1. there are 3 different jokers in each stack (12 in total)

a. Ingo, the Joker

b. Willy, the Wild Thing

c. Sharky, the Stack Attacker

2. what they can do

a. Ingo is a placeholder for single letters. You want to write bed but you are missing a d, then use the Ingo if you have one. When it has been laid out, it can be triggered again later with the correct letter and used again, also by the other players.

b. Willy is a placeholder for a sound that the player may not be able to spell or that consists of several letters, e.g. ough in bought. It too can be triggered and reused.

c. Sharky lets you search once in any deck for a card. When you have redeemed it, it is returned to the bottom of the pile.

3. note: a joker that remains in your hand at the end of the game costs you 5 points.

How the points are counted

1. each player first counts the points on the cards that they were able to form into words

2. then he counts the points on the cards he could not lay down

3. and subtract this buzzer from the first one

4. the difference is the final total

5. additional points can be awarded for

a. The longest word

b. The most words

c. The word with the most points

d. Translation of the words or correct pronunciation

e. Pluralisation of the words etc.