Syzygy - The Word Game

Anybody who likes Scrabble (or crossword puzzles) will probably enjoy this game and while Scrabble is limited to four players, this game will accommodate 2-3 times that many. Ideally suited for large families. I definitely recommend this game to my readership.

The game is a take-off on Scrabble but players work individually and there is no board. My first impression on opening the game was, "What a lot of tiles!" (304 to be precise.) Placing them all face down to begin play can be daunting. Once that was out of the way and play began, the action was fast and furious. The rules are minimal and it's surprisingly easy to make interconnecting words given that two letter words are allowed. There was no runaway winner and, in the end, only a couple of tiles separated first and last place.

While the game's producer encourages "freedom and creativity in playing the game", I think basic scoring rules could be included such as, points for longest word, least number of two-letter words, most number of uncommon letters. Also, player's configurations became strung out and began to run into each other. Definitely, a very large playing area is necessary even with 2-4 players. There was also a slight annoyance in keeping tiles aligned within the grids. I would suggest that each player is provided with a 15 x 15 grid printed on a mat (much like a place mat). This would not only help maintain the alignment of the tiles but it would also limit each player to a certain area thereby increasing the challenge.

Also the packaging is excessive. The box is big enough for two games (for "shelf presence", no doubt) and I'd suggest putting the tiles in a bag which would be much more user-friendly than the current plastic box. Final word: High play value.