This game consists of the formation and capture by reformation of words made from letters of different value, the object of the game being to use as many letters of value as possible in such formation and capture. [From the rules sheet.]
There are at least 129 letter cards, which are more like cardboard tiles, 1" x 1". At the start, 12 are dealt to each player, and the rest are face down in the table center. In their turn, each player:
- Draws a letter.
- Either:
--- plays a word from the hand
--- attacks and captures another player's word by adding one or more letters to it from their hand, making a new word which has a different root meaning
--- passes
They draw 2 letters after forming or capturing a word.
The game ends when all the letters are drawn and everyone passes. Points are scored for each letter in all the words a player owns, according to the letters' ranks. Most cards are Privates, worth 2 points, but each vowel has two cards which are officers, worth more:
A - General (20 points)
E - Major (15 points)
I - Captain (10 points)
O - Lieutenant (5 points)
U - Sergeant (3 points)
The player with the highest score wins.