Bunce is a turn-based anagram card game that takes the alphabet and challenges one’s vocabulary. Each person starts with a set of one of each letter of the alphabet,. A player draws letters,  plays a word, and scores points. The previous word’s letters are removed and the next player plays off your word. There is only one word on the table at any time. Its light strategy is perfect for families or a quick game with friends.

Game components: 108 playing cards

Players 2-4; Ages 8+;  Time: 15-20 minutes

Box dimension: 6” x 6” x 1”

Bunce Rules

Objective:  Build words, score the most points. 

Components:

108 cards; 27 cards in each of 4 colored sets. Each set contains the alphabet plus one wild card, all with associated values.

Set up:

One person is chosen to keep score (pen and paper not included). Players select a colored set of cards and shuffle them to create their individual decks. Randomly choose a first player.

Rules of Play:

In each game there are six rounds of play. In the first round, players draw seven cards from the top of the deck and play that hand; the next round six cards, then five and so on until the final round uses the remaining two cards.  The score for the hand is determined by adding points for cards from the word created and subtracting points for the cards drawn but not used in the word.

Player 1 begins by drawing seven cards, and building a valid word face-up on the table.  If the first hand does not contain a vowel, she shows her cards to other players, reshuffles and takes her turn again.  Unused drawn cards are then discarded and the word scored is used by the next player.  Play continues clockwise. 

After the first word is played, words in the following turns can be played in three ways:  

1) perpendicular using a letter from the word previously played (i.e. crosswords)

2) perpendicular off the beginning or end of prior word played (i.e. adding an “s” and using that to build a new word)

3) by adding letters at the beginning, end or both of to create a new word (i.e. “light” becomes “delightful”)

Words must be three letters or longer. A wild card, played or remaining on the table, can be any letter chosen by the active player. There are no valid plays parallel to other words played.  Unused letters from the previous word on the table are discarded so that only one word remains on the game table at any time.  

A Bunce is a 10 point bonus earned 2 ways:

1) when all drawn cards are played in a turn

2) during a challenge

Words may be challenged by other players and done so verbally before points are tallied.  Determine the dictionary used prior to play; Merriam-Webster is recommended.  Any word that has an entry in the dictionary is valid (i.e. proper nouns and abbreviations without punctuation). If the challenged word is valid, the challenged player receives a Bunce for EACH person who challenged the play, in addition to points for the word played.  If a word played and challenged is not valid, each player who challenged the word receives a Bunce.  The player then picks up his cards and tries again..  

After the final round, the player with the most points is the winner.