Word Games Plaza: Guggenheim

Guggenheim is a wordgame played in many countries, easy to learn, but requires some thought.

Number of Players: any

Age: 8+, however, age also heavily depends on the categories choosen. A category like toys is much easier to kids than say composers.

Materials: Pencil & paper for every player.

Time: About 10 minutes

Object of the Game:

To score the most points by making the most words.

To start:

The players should agree on some categories and a keyword. Good categories are: musical instruments, boy's names, tools, animals, flowers, girls names, capitals, countries/states, towns, musicians, historical heads of state, presidents, scientists, inventors, and so on. Each players draws a grid. The left most column is filled with the different categories. The top row is filled with the letters of the keyword. (See sample game below). Finally, players agree on a time limit. Depending on the category, it might be a good idea too define this. For example, if the category 'capitol' is proposed, one might ask: Present capitols or also past ones? Those of countries or those of US states?

How to Play:

• Every player secretly writes down one word in each box of the grid. The word should fit into the categorie and start with the letter in the top row. Example: A player might write 'John' in the categorie 'boy's name' under the letter 'J'.

The end:

When time is over, players should lay down their pen.  

Winning:

Players call out their words one by one. Every word earns 1 point for every player who did not have the same word.

Variations:

Kids Fun Rating

our four kids rated the fun of this game (1 is awfull, 10 means 'play this always')

Piet-Jan (11)	9
Margreet (10)	9
Klaas (9)	9
Joella (7)	1

Mary and Mark agree on:

	S	U	G	A	R
Country
Composer
Animal

They put a book between them, and each fill in their grid.

Mark fills:

	S	U	G	A	R
Country	Spain	Uganda	Greece	Australia	Romania
Composer	Schubert
Animal	Snake	Unicorn	Grizzly	Antilope	Rhino

Mary fills:

	S	U	G	A	R
Country	Solomon Islands	United States	Germany	Algeria	Russia
Composer	Strauss		Gershwin		Ravel
Animal	Snake		Gorilla	Ant	Rhinoceros

The score:

Marks Unicorn sparkles some discussion. They decide to dismiss it as being mythical, not real. Mark scores for all his other words except Rhino and snake, making 8 points. Mary scores for all her words except snake and rhinoceros, giving 10 points. Mary wins, due to her greater knowledge of composers.