Wurda™

The collaborative word-building game.™

Items Needed
-1 standard deck of cards (jokers removed).
-15-second timer.
-Pencils.
-Paper for Challenge Slips.
-Wurda™ Pad:

-Letter Key:

The Reference
-Before game play begins, players must agree to a Reference that will be used to determine whether a played word is a valid Wurd. The Reference can be any literary work or works, in any language, but must be easily searchable during the game. Examples include:

• Dictionary.com
• French Scrabble dictionary
• Klingon Pocket Dictionary
• The Lord of the Rings
• The complete works of J.K. Rowling
• Hamlet
• Jabberwocky
• A player’s term paper

-To be considered valid (i.e., a Wurd), a played word must be contained in the Reference, including proper nouns, fictional/nonsense words, contractions, etc.
Note: Playing Wurda™ in a non-native language is an excellent way to learn new vocabulary.

Game Play
-Players form at least 2 teams.
-Each team must have at least 2 members.
Note: Teams must have equal numbers of members.
-Each team determines the order of play for their members (who will play first, second, third, et cetera).
-Each team picks one card from the deck and determines the corresponding letter from the Letter Key, then writes this starting letter on the Wurda™ Pad above their team number/name.
Note: If the same letter is picked twice, the card is discarded and that team picks again.
-Each letter has a point value listed on the Letter Key.

First Turn
-Highest card goes first, play continues clockwise.
-The first member of the first team adds any letter to their starting letter to begin building their word before the 15-second timer expires.
-The first member of the second team adds any letter to begin their word, but they cannot use the same letter as the immediately previous player.
Note: Subsequent players can use any letter except the letter played by the immediately previous player.
-If a player cannot add a letter before the timer expires, their team is out of the round and receives zero points.
-If at any point in the round only one team remains, the round ends and the remaining team receives the sum value of each letter they have played.
-The paper is then passed to the next player, and the timer is reset.
-Teams proceed in order as above until all first team members have played a letter.

Second Turn
-Second team members proceed as above for the next turn.
-In the second and all subsequent turns, a player may declare Wurda after playing a letter to indicate their team’s word is complete and end the round (see below).
-After each play in the second and subsequent turns, the next player may begin their turn by issuing a Secret Challenge to the previous player (see below).

Subsequent Turns
-Turns continue as above until the round ends when a) one team declares Wurda, b) only one team is left in the round, or c) there is a communication violation.

Subsequent Rounds
-The second and subsequent rounds begin with teams selecting new cards and proceeding as above.
Note: Cards are not returned to the deck after being selected. When all cards have been selected, the discarded cards are shuffled and selection continues.
-Play continues until one team reaches or exceeds 200 points and is declared the winner.

Declaring Wurda™
-The declaring team scores their word by summing the value of each letter, then adds a 20 point bonus for declaring Wurda.
-All other teams sum the value of their played letters and receive negative points equaling their totals.
-If Wurda is declared on an incomplete or invalid word, the declaring team receives negative 50 points. All other teams receive zero points.

Secret Challenges
-If a Secret Challenge is issued, the challenged player must secretly write the full word they are working toward on a Challenge Slip, fold it, and pass it to the challenging player.
-The word must be kept secret from all other players on the challenged team.
-The challenging team will then search the Reference to determine if the played word is a valid Wurd.
-If the played word is invalid, the challenged team is out of the round and receives negative points equaling the sum of their letter values. The challenging player continues with their turn.
-If the played word is valid, the challenging player skips their turn.

Communication Violations
-Teammates may not communicate in any way, verbally or non-verbally, about their word or declaring Wurda.
-If a team commits a communication violation, they are out of the round and receive negative 100 points.

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FAQs

Q: What constitutes “contained in the Reference?”
A: If the Reference is a language guide like a dictionary, the played word must be listed as an entry. If the Reference is a literary work, the played word must be contained in the body of the work as agreed to in advance by the players (e.g., title page forward, first chapter to end of the epilogue, et cetera).

Q: Do misspellings or other errors in the Reference count as Wurds?
A: If it’s contained in the Reference, it’s a Wurd!

Q: What about plurals or other word variants?
A: If it’s not contained in the Reference, it’s not a Wurd.

Q: What’s up with the name?
A: Wurda is the Proto-Germanic origin of the English word.