Spelling Pirates

A couple of my previous posts have been about how much we enjoy playing games here.

For Christmas my son, who is 6, received the game Spelling Pirates.  To play you shake the dice  which features numbers, build, or block faces.  The numbers are 8, 9 and 10.  If you roll a number you get to choice that many letter die which you shake, spill, and then use to build a word. However, you must build your new word on your previous word.  Sometimes that is not easy. 

The build face allows you to put a bridge in place rather than building a word and block gives you a stone wall to put in front of an opponents current word.

Word Pirates game in progress

Unlike another popular spelling game, each player only builds words on their previous words, not on any open letters.  Players start in their own corner of the board and work towards the center.  The goal is to build a word which ends in one of the 4 squares in the center.  The first one to do so is the winner.

We have played this a number of times and enjoy it, but also find it challenging for several reasons.  One, you have a limited number of letters to work with. While 8 or 10 letters may sound like a lot,  when they are all random it may turn out not to be. Imagine getting only 1 vowel or even all consonants.  The second challenge is trying to make a new word which you can build on a previous word. While he is a good speller, sometimes he needed help to come up with ideas and then he could play on his own.