Word Racer
Encyclopedia
Word Racer is a game developed by Yahoo!
in 1999 for use on its Yahoo! Games
page. The game play is similar to Boggle
with some notable exceptions, especially the scoring and game board configurations.
Play in Round 2 is identical to Round 1; however, the shape of the board has changed and bonus tiles are introduced. The board in Round 2 consists of 24 letters instead of the 16 letters in round one, and is roughly shaped like a hexagon, with two blue letters included; one at the top of the board and one at the bottom. When a player uses one of these blue letters while forming a word, the score of the word is doubled. For example, a five letter word that uses a blue letter would be worth 80 points instead of the normal 40. Additionally, the bonuses are cumulative, meaning that if both blue letters are used in the same word, the player would receive four times the base word score. There is no limit to how many times the blue letters may be used during the round. As in Round 1, only the first player to find a word is subsequently awarded the points for finding it.
Round 3 consists of two overlapping 4x4 squares, forming a 28 letter board. Two red squares are included in the Round 3 board, one in the upper left corner and one in the lower right corner. These red squares are worth a triple word score if used in a word.
Round 4 is a 6x6 square with a 2x2 hole in the middle, totaling 32 letters in all. There are four bonus letters in Round 4; Red tiles in the lower left and upper right corners and blue tiles in the upper left and lower right corners. The score of a word that uses both a red and blue tile would be multiplied by six.
Before writing any words, some players scan the board for the letter s and the combinations ed, er, and ing. Being aware of the possibilities often allows one to find words in groups. For example, the word head can lead to heads, headed, header, headers, heading, and headings. Other useful combinations include ier, est, iest, able, ible, less, ness, ight, tion, and many others.
In a game of many players, it is less beneficial to hunt for common words because they will be found early in the round.
Fives (sixes, sevens, etc.) - Players must only submit words that are five (six, seven, etc.) letters or longer.
Threes - Players are allowed to submit only three words per round.
Pyramid - Each word submitted by a player must be one letter longer than the previous one they've submitted each round. Players start by entering a three letter word, then a four letter word, and so on.
100s - Each submitted word must be worth 100 points or more.
Bonuses - Players may only submit a word if it contains a bonus tile.
Hamster Style - round one is fives, each subsequent round you are permitted 2 words PER bonus tile. If a word hits multiple bonus tiles, it is counted toward both.
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
in 1999 for use on its Yahoo! Games
Yahoo! Games
Yahoo! Games is the section of the Yahoo! website in which Yahoo! users can play games either with other users or by themselves. The games on the website are typically Java applets or quick Flash games, but there are others which require a download. Many of the games that require a download...
page. The game play is similar to Boggle
Boggle
Boggle is a word game designed by Allan Turoff and trademarked by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players attempt to find words in sequences of adjacent letters.-Rules:...
with some notable exceptions, especially the scoring and game board configurations.
Rules and Scoring
There are four rounds per game of Word Racer, each round lasting two minutes. Round 1 begins as the computer semi-randomly places letters in a 4x4 grid. Each player then searches for words that can be constructed from the letters of sequentially adjacent letters. Here, the meaning of "adjacent" includes the horizontally, vertically, and diagonally neighboring letters. Words must be at least three letters long, may include singular, plural and other derived forms separately, but may not use the same letter square more than once per word. The computer records each player's words; only the first person to find each word is awarded points, as follows:| Word Length | Base Points |
|---|---|
| 3 letters | 10 |
| 4 letters | 20 |
| 5 letters | 40 |
| 6 letters | 70 |
- After six letters, each additional letter used in a word is worth 40 base points.
- In "Strict Scoring" style of play, a player loses five points for every incorrect word typed. There is no penalty for typing a word that has already been found by another player.
Play in Round 2 is identical to Round 1; however, the shape of the board has changed and bonus tiles are introduced. The board in Round 2 consists of 24 letters instead of the 16 letters in round one, and is roughly shaped like a hexagon, with two blue letters included; one at the top of the board and one at the bottom. When a player uses one of these blue letters while forming a word, the score of the word is doubled. For example, a five letter word that uses a blue letter would be worth 80 points instead of the normal 40. Additionally, the bonuses are cumulative, meaning that if both blue letters are used in the same word, the player would receive four times the base word score. There is no limit to how many times the blue letters may be used during the round. As in Round 1, only the first player to find a word is subsequently awarded the points for finding it.
Round 3 consists of two overlapping 4x4 squares, forming a 28 letter board. Two red squares are included in the Round 3 board, one in the upper left corner and one in the lower right corner. These red squares are worth a triple word score if used in a word.
Round 4 is a 6x6 square with a 2x2 hole in the middle, totaling 32 letters in all. There are four bonus letters in Round 4; Red tiles in the lower left and upper right corners and blue tiles in the upper left and lower right corners. The score of a word that uses both a red and blue tile would be multiplied by six.
Strategy
Given that only the first player to find a word gets credit for it, it makes good sense to concentrate on bonus letters in the later rounds. Additionally, it is useful to memorize common sets of anagrams. For example, when one spots the word tea, one might instantly type eat, ate, tae and eta rather than trying to determine whether those words are actually in the board.Before writing any words, some players scan the board for the letter s and the combinations ed, er, and ing. Being aware of the possibilities often allows one to find words in groups. For example, the word head can lead to heads, headed, header, headers, heading, and headings. Other useful combinations include ier, est, iest, able, ible, less, ness, ight, tion, and many others.
In a game of many players, it is less beneficial to hunt for common words because they will be found early in the round.
Variants
Players of Word Racer occasionally create their own rules for a change of pace. Because there is no way to set rules other than the default ones, special rules games are done on the honor system. Below are a few of the common variants:Fives (sixes, sevens, etc.) - Players must only submit words that are five (six, seven, etc.) letters or longer.
Threes - Players are allowed to submit only three words per round.
Pyramid - Each word submitted by a player must be one letter longer than the previous one they've submitted each round. Players start by entering a three letter word, then a four letter word, and so on.
100s - Each submitted word must be worth 100 points or more.
Bonuses - Players may only submit a word if it contains a bonus tile.
Hamster Style - round one is fives, each subsequent round you are permitted 2 words PER bonus tile. If a word hits multiple bonus tiles, it is counted toward both.