Betcha Didn't Know - about Bananagrams | Coffee Break with Liz and Kate

Coffee Break with Liz and Kate » Betcha didn’t know… » Betcha Didn’t Know – about Bananagrams

Betcha Didn’t Know – about Bananagrams

December 9th, 2009 | Add a Comment

bananagrams Betcha didn’t know…

about this season’s hottest new game, Bananagrams. “This is one of the hottest games on the market right now,” reveals Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of Time To Play Magazine. “The object is to make your own crossword as fast as you can. It comes with a banana-shaped pouch, so it’s perfect for traveling, and there are different handicap levels, so it’s great for everyone.”

Here’s an article about the beginnings of the Bananagram game…

“Had a lightning bolt struck Abe Nathanson between the eyes that day, the outcome could hardly have been more, shall we say, fruitful. Four summers ago, a frustrated Nathanson was sitting at his dining room table, having lost yet another Scrabble game to his 11-year-old grandson, Aaron. It wasn’t the loss that bothered Nathanson so much. It was the two hours it had taken to play the game.

Staring at his letter tiles, Nathanson said, “We need an anagrams game so fast, it’ll drive you bananas.’’ As the words came tumbling out, he began rearranging them in his head. Anagrams. Bananas. Bananagrams.”

The rest of the story…

How to Play

Place all 144 tiles face down on center of table, forming the “bunch”.
If playing with 2-4 players, each takes 21 letters. For 5-6 players, each takes 15 letters. For 7 or more players, each takes 11 letters. All letters taken should be kept face down.
Any player may call “SPLIT”. Players turn over all of their tiles and begin forming words, connecting and intersecting each either horizontally or vertically.
Once all of a players tiles have been used, they yell “PEEL” and every player must take a tile.
If there is a letter that a player does not want, they may return it to bunch and take three tiles in its place.
The game continues until the bunch is smaller than the number of players.
When a player has no remaining letters and the bunch is too small, they must shout “BANANAS”. They are considered the winner of that hand, unless other players find any misspelled words.

You can buy Bananagrams at Amazon.com