Spelling Your Doom is a game where two players compete to spell the longest word possible. The catch is, each player takes a turn adding a letter to the end of the word. They continue until a word cannot be made by adding a letter or a player cannot think of anything to add.
- There are 5 Rounds.
- Players Play rock, paper, scissors to determine who goes first
- Players may add only one letter at a time
- Letters can only be used twice per word
- Each consonant letter in a word is worth 1 point
- Each vowel is worth 2 points
- If players spell something that isnt a word within 5 letters or neither can think of anything to add to it, both lose 5 points.
- If a word is longer than 10 letters, it is worth double points.
- After Each round, players take turns going first.
- Whichever player has the most points at the end of the game wins.
Materials
The only materials needed are a pen or pencil and some paper.
Playtest for: Spelling Your Doom
Playtester: Clay
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
Ambiguity in the rules. If I start a word that no other players can add to, but I can still add to it, what happens without me communicating the word I was thinking of?
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
I did enjoy stumping the other players with an odd consonant combination but it also caused issue with the progression of the game
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
Words get to a certain point that there isn’t realistically anything that can be added, so the final player being the only one to score seems slightly unfair, especially because it is possible to just pluralize a word by adding an “S” to it
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
The way that the game is scored may need revision because it is frustrating to not score points, even for good letter additions, and then have the final player score points for all of those, especially when the points are doubled, which is due in part to my letter contributions
How has the play experience changed since the first play test?
N/A
Is this a game you would play again? Why?
I am honestly not crazy about spelling games. I tend to avoid Bananagrams and Scrabble and such
1. having to think about how to spell words
2. N/A
3. paly the game
4. clarification on if the words need to be just one word or if you can have multiple
5. N/A
6. no personal reasons
Hey guys, your game was really fun and I would certainly play this with my friends when we’re bored. My favorite moment was beating Max despite the verbal abuse and I liked changing the word when he was planning something else. I didn’t experience anything I wanted to do but couldn’t, and I would maybe say add a rule where plurals can’t be played. Also the play experience was very consistent which I liked.
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
Unclear rules – ie “what counts as a letter”, “what happens if a word can’t be finished”, “who gets points for what – is it specific letters or for completing the word?”
Also the idea of the person completing the word getting all the points, I understand the idea behind it and it making players think ahead but it just seems slightly unfair.
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
Someone completely changing the direction of a word by using a random letter and then me not really believing them when they say it’s how you spell a word.
Was there anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
Place letters anywhere in the word.
Have more than one word going at once. (Like a limit of 3 or 2 words)
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
More clarification on the rules.
Change the scoring system so that not just the one who finishes the word gets points
How has the experience changed since the first play test?
N/A
Is this a game you would play again? Why?
Maybe… I do like the concept of it, and it theory it has the potential to be fun but it has some kinks that need worked out.
Playtest for: Spelling Your Doom
Tester: River
Most frustrating: Spelling is not my strong suit. Do you get points as you go or only after the word is complete? Are we making one long word? A, AB, and ABS are words but ABSE/ABSEN are not, until you get back to ABSENT. The rules were very ambiguous.
Favorite moment: N/A
Anything you wanted to do but couldn’t: Play a word starting with something other than A or I.
Magic wand: Make the rules way clearer.
How has play changed: N/A 1st test
Would you play again: No, because it was very confusing and the rules were not clear at all.
Playtest for- Frankie and Shane
Playtester-Mia
Most frustrating?
The rules were a little confusing on who got points
Favorite moment?
Trying to figure out what everyone else was spelling
Anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
Get points for adding letters
Magic wand?
Making it more clear about the points and who gets them
How has the play changed from the first time?
N/A
Would you play again?
Yes if the rules were altered a bit.