Sample game
Word Thief
Build words from a shared pool, or add letters to an opponent’s word and claim it as your own. Every word is fair game.
1What you need
A shuffled letter deck with at least 20 cards, including vowels. Agree on a dictionary. Choose a starting player; turns go clockwise.
2Set it up
Place 10 cards face up in the centre as a shared pool. Leave the remaining cards in a face-down draw pile. Each player needs space in front of them for claimed words.
3How to play
- At the start of your turn, add 2 cards from the draw pile to the shared pool, or all remaining cards if fewer than 2 remain.
- Take one action: make a new word of at least 3 letters from the pool; extend or rearrange one of your own words using at least 1 pool card; or steal an opponent’s word using all its cards plus at least 1 pool card.
- Place the completed word in front of you. You may rearrange the letters, but may not discard any letters from an existing word. If you cannot or do not want to act, pass.
4Scoring & winning
When the draw pile is empty, continue taking turns without drawing. The game ends after every player passes consecutively. Score 1 point per card in your words. The highest score wins; a tie is a shared win.
5The finer points
Only the active player can claim words. No proper nouns, abbreviations, hyphens or apostrophes. Dictionary-listed plurals and verb forms are allowed, including for steals. Resolve challenges before the next turn. Return cards from an invalid move to their previous places; that action is lost.
wordgames.dancondali.com/games/word-thief/