TEAMWORD

In a game of TEAMWORD, all players win or lose together. To win they must use every card in the deck of 93 letters and 3 wilds. Everybody must make a word of their own every round using the limited letters at their disposal. But only some of the available letters can be shared among the team. Each player is stuck with the three that begin in their hand. The game provides six more in a bundle, and everybody together must decide how to divide those six cards in a way that enables everybody to make a word. In addition, at least one player must manage to make a word with five letters or more. AND a certain minimum number of total cards must be used by the team as a whole (which is determined by how many players are in the game).

The game also includes rules for solo play, in which you are challenged to make three words each round using cards from three different bundles. The card distribution of conventional gameplay is emulated well for solo play.

A round of TEAMWORD plays something like this: you begin with three letters in your hand, and six letters are placed in the center of the play area. Then you look over the selection of random letters in search of any words you can make. Most importantly, you want to find a word with five or more letters. Somebody has to. The whole time, you will discuss your findings with everybody else. The game is rather social, as players inform each other of their needs and end up thinking out loud a lot. You may also find it necessary to help teammates find their words, especially if nobody is able to find a five-letter word on their own.

Example Hand

The first thing you might notice in this situation is the scarcity of vowels, with none in your hand and only one in the bundle. Hopefully your teammates have vowels in their hands for their own use because you need that E to spell anything. After relaying that information to everybody else, you will start looking for words you can spell.

Starting simply, you could use the N and W in your hand to make "new," or you could use the P to make "pen." You only need to make one word, we're merely looking for the best option. If you want to use more letters – which you probably do – you can use another card from the bundle to make "when" or "then" instead. But really your goal is to find a word with five letters or more. Somebody has to. And would you look at that: You can make "whelp." Of course, it's possible your teammates will need the H and/or L. If so, you still have the shorter words to fall back on.

Remember this is merely an example of what a round of cards can look like from the perspective of a single player. Actually finishing the round is much more involved with up to six players all working together. All players together have to decide how to divide those six cards in the center.

Every round will be challenging in its own unique way, never playing out the same way twice. Sometimes you'll feel like the hero of the day for finding a relatively long word using some of the more difficult letters. Something like "query." Other times, your contribution will be, well I can spell "a."

Note: The rules have provisions for situations where it is not possible for everybody to make a word.

Unused cards from one round will stick around in players' hands, distributed how the team sees fit. Having foresight now can benefit you in future rounds. You might want to keep around a couple of vowels, just in case. Especially a U so you can pair it with the game's one and only Q. It also makes sense to avoid using wild cards frivolously. A time may come when you absolutely need one. Wild cards can be great insurance against the unpredictability of the final round.

The team's ultimate goal is to use every card in the game. After multiple rounds and dozens of words, the deck will run out, and you will play one final special round where all remaining cards are pooled in the center.

A PDF of the rule book is downloadable for free on this page.

Message From the Designer

I made this game for my Mom. I was raised playing games my whole life because of her. And we played games together all the way to the end.

Unfortunately, Mom was diagnosed with dementia. I helped to take care of her for her last several years, and we played games together as long as she was able.

I challenged myself to make a game she could enjoy. It needed two specific elements: First, it had to be cooperative with simultaneous play (as opposed to taking turns). That way, she didn't have to remember all of the rules all the time, and we could help her whenever she struggled. Second, the primary mechanic for the game had to be something she already understood, not something new for her to learn. Spelling words was the perfect answer.

Long story short, it worked out great. This was probably our favorite game to play for a couple years.

Somehow, despite the very specific design goal, I ended up making a game with broad appeal. People who don't like word games still like this game. And people who don't like cooperative games still like this game. I'm pretty proud of this one.

-Hyrum