Boggle

1 Setup

Shake the grid to randomize the 16 letter cubes into the 4×4 tray. Set the sand timer (3 minutes). All players get a pencil and paper. On "Go," flip the timer and everyone starts simultaneously.

2 Gameplay

Find as many words as possible by connecting adjacent letters. Letters must be adjacent, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Each cube may only be used once per word. Words must be at least 3 letters long.

Write down every word you find. When the timer runs out, everyone stops writing.

3 Scoring

Players read their lists aloud. Any word found by more than one player is crossed off everyone's list, it scores zero. Only unique words score points:

Challenge any word you believe is invalid. Use a dictionary to settle disputes. Invalid words score zero.

4 Invalid Words

Words that do NOT score: proper nouns, abbreviations, hyphenated words, words using the same cube twice, words shorter than 3 letters, and words not traceable as a connected path on the grid.

5 Strategy Tips

• Find root words first, then add prefixes/suffixes: finding PLAY also gets you PLAYS, PLAYED, PLAYER, PLAYERS, PLAYING, REPLAY, REPLAYS
• Scan diagonals, most players miss diagonal connections. Letters connected diagonally are valid.
• Look for common endings: -ING, -ED, -ER, -EST, -TION, -LY multiply your word count fast
• Write fast and verify later, don't slow down second-guessing. Write anything plausible; cross off invalids at scoring
• The Qu cube, the Q cube shows "Qu" and counts as both letters. Words using it need a U built in (QUEEN, QUILT, etc.)