Ridley's | Draw A Blank | Family Word Game | Fun for all the Family

This is a well thought out game. It varies from traditional word games, such as scrabble and bananagrams, as involves trying to list as many words as possible which fit in with the created sequence, rather than creating high scoring or long words.The game contains a dice, letter tiles, blank tiles and a timer, as well as writing pads. Each player begins with some letter tiles, then the dice is rolled at the start of the turn to determine how many blank tiles should be used. The player then places all blank tiles and as many of their letters as desired, to create a template. E.g B_ _ L _ . Then the 1 minute timer is turned over and each player has to list as many words as possible that they can think of, that would fit into that template.Scoring is easy, with 1 point for each word listed. This is then multiplied by the number of letter tiles which were placed that round. So if you placed S _ _ Y and then formed 6 words, your score would be 6 x 2 = 12.There is a bonus each turn for the player with the most words. There is also a penalty should no players be able to formulate a word from the sequence put down, so some thought has to be put into what is laid down. Game play goes on, with the next player adding a sequence on to one already down, as you would in scrabble, intersecting an existing letter or blank.You can play the 'short game', where the games ends once one player has scored 100, or you can continue until all of the tiles are used. 100 can be reached fairly quickly because of the multiplying element- games for us have lasted from 20-60 minutes, depending which version is played. You can also play with as few as 2 players, which makes this a perfect for word loving couples, as well as being family friendly (it is recommended for age 10+ on the box).This is nicely packaged up and plays well. Simple to understand. It can get a bit tricky, depending on the letters that players have- not necessarily one for when you're feeling a bit tired. I have given it 4 stars as it is fun and competitive and will have an appeal to people who enjoy word games. Some games can be a little repetitive if the same letters come up, but it is a nice twist on the classics.