Game Closet: Word on the Street

I like word games...

Correction: I like 'Scrabble.' Word games, in general, are not my cup of tea, but Scrabble is a classic and many a Thanksgiving has been spent playing Scrabble in the SuperRad extended family.  Personally, I feel that I should have retired from the game after spelling 'hexagon' in one game, but the simplicity and light competitiveness of Scrabble is easy for anyone to swallow.

Don't get me started on 'Bananagrams,' though; ugg - that's a game for people who say they want to play a game, but would rather be by themselves.

'Word on the Street,' however, may have just unseated Scrabble as my favorite Word game, it manages to be a fun, interactive, and competitive experience for two players AND doubles as a loud, intense party game for two teams.



The mechanic is simple: Tiles of consonants are placed down the median of a street-like board, and players, either 1v1 or in teams, take turns drawing a card which asks for a word.  Players have 30 seconds to think of the word and move all corresponding letters towards them one space for each letter in the word.   Move a letter three spaces towards you and it's off the board and out of play; the first team to collect 8 tiles is the winner. So, if the answer you think of is 'Mississippi', you move M one space, S four spaces and off the board, and P two spaces.  The challenge for the other team on their turn, is not just thinking of a word that works well for the letters remaining on the board, but also to pick a word that causes the letters to move back from their opponent's side of the board.

And that's it.  The simplicity of the game is what makes it so appealing.  It's a game that can easily substitute for 'Scrabble,' and new players will understand the mechanics and rules within one round.  

The 'Tug of Words' tagline for the game is appropriate - teams will be battling back and forth to try to get those all-important tiles.  If the timer runs out, your turn and any remaining tiles you've yet to move, is over. The result is having to be able to think of word that both plays into your favor and out of your opponents, and think of it quickly.

Because only one person on a team can move the tiles per round, opening the game in a party setting can yield hilarious results when an entire team is trying to think of the best word - and how to spell it - and yelling at the person moving the tiles to move faster before the timer runs out.

In fact, the timer is probably the most critical element to this game - without it, 'Word on the Street' would be a casual experience; with it, it can be anxiety-producing - but the good kind of light anxiety that makes you laugh, not the bad anxiety that makes you want to jump out a window.

Plus for the younger set, there's a 'Jr.' version that uses all letters of the alphabet for a quicker and more educational experience for the kiddies, and a great game for the whole family to play together.  Though if there's only room in your closet for one version, I'd recommend the standard version - it's pretty universally adaptable for any age group. 

A quick word about the components for 'WotS': I am a sucker for durable, domino-like, Bakelite tiles.  I love them in 'Hive' and, thankfully, they are here too.  The satisfying *click, click, click* the tiles make when stacked together have a Pavlovian affect on me, I hear it and it makes me smile.  Plus they'll easily withstand the shocking and unmitigated strength of a toddler.

Highly recommended to break up that Scrabble monotony.