Quiddler

Quiddler, also known as "the short word game," is both a word game and a strategy game that both young children and adults can play together. It consists of 118 cards. Each card has one letter of the alphabet on it, with the exception of 10 double letter cards that feature CL, TH, IN, QU and ER. The object of the game is to use these cards to spell words and generate the most points in the process.

Both children and adults can enjoy Quiddler

Setup for Quiddler is very easy. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals three to each player. In each subsequent round he or she deals out one more card to each person. This means that the next round each player gets five, and so on. At the beginning of the eighth and final hand each person will be dealt 10 cards. The dealer places the leftover cards in a stockpile facedown and flips over the top card.

The person sitting to the left of the dealer starts the game. This person either picks up the faceup card or draws from the stockpile. At the end of the turn, he or she must discard one card faceup. Play continues to the left, around the table.

Players cannot lay down any cards until they are able to use all of them to spell one or more words of two letters or more, or until another player has already laid down his or her cards.

Each round ends when one player is able to lay down all the cards in his or her hand at the end of his or her turn. This person is not automatically the winner. Once this happens all of the other players get one additional turn. Then they lay down what they can.

The point totals on the cards are added up, and players with cards still in their hands subtract these point values from their total scores. The player with the longest word gets 10 bonus points, as does the player with the most words. If there is a tie in either area, no one gets that bonus.

At the end of the round the dealer records the scores collects the cards, shuffles them together with the discards and the stockpile and redeals.

The word restrictions for Quiddler are very similar to the ones for Scrabble. Players are not allowed to use:

• Proper nouns
• Abbreviations
• Hyphenated words
• Prefixes or suffixes

If someone thinks a person played an illegal word or a word that does not really exist, he or she can challenge. If the challenger wins, the person that played the illegal word has to subtract the points the word adds up to from his or her score. If the player wins, the challenger must subtract those points.

For the purpose of challenges, all players agree on a dictionary to use before the start of the game.

When people play Quiddler, they may originally strive simply to create the longest words. It's important to note, though, that these long words will not necessarily win the game. The strategy here is to get the best combination of letters point value wise. This means that a person who still has cards in his or her hand may actually score higher than someone that lays down every card.

The images on Quiddler's cards are designed to look like Celtic texts, such as the Book of Durrow. This gives them a more interesting appearance than for instance regular poker cards.

There are lots of places where a person can purchase Quiddler, including many game shops. It is also available online. The following retailers should have it in stock.

• Target
• Uncles Games
• Amazon
• Funagain Games

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