10 Best Word Board Games

These 10 best word board games are a great way to exercise one’s vocabulary and focus. Both adults and children can benefit in various ways. At the very least, activities like word games can strengthen vocabulary. Having a vast vocabulary embellishes writing skills, which can be used in many avenues. Compared to other methodologies of expanding one’s vocabulary, few can be more intrinsically fun than playing a simple game. They are motivational because of their ease. No moment feels like work, and that’s just as it should be.

Scrabble

scrabble

Scrabble is an excellent word game for increasing your vocabulary while spending time with friends.

Best Boredom Antidote for: playing with varying age groups

The goal of Scrabble is to gain points by making long words in a crossword puzzle fashion. It is suitable for most ages because even children can make simple words with the wooden letters of the game. However, players do receive more points for longer words. The wider your vocabulary the better chance you have at winning. In addition, Scrabble < a href= “http://www.parenting.com/gallery/board-games-boost-brain-power?page=13”> allows children to practice their adding skills and analytical abilities.
Overall, it is nice and slow for quiet evenings. One game can last very long and if one does have to temporarily leave the game for later use the board does takes up space. This might be an annoyance for some, since the wooden pieces can get displaced when picked up. Be sure to set aside addequete time.

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Bananagrams

bananagrams
Bananagrams, like Scrabble, lets you build words with small letter pieces.

Best Boredom Antidote for: portable word game fun

With its popularity, it makes sense to place Bananagrams on the 10 best word board games list. On Amazon sell ratings it scores a 4.7 out of 5 and that’s with 1,407 reviews. The object of Bananagrams is to compete against your friends to make word grids as fast as possible. It is called Bananagrams because the letters come in a fabric banana bag. This makes it non-bulky and portable enough for taking out to picnics or other outings. It is recommended for travel also because no board is required. In addition, one person or up to 8 people can play this popular game.

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Taboo

Taboo

If you’re looking for a word game with a bit more theme and humor Taboo is a good choice

Best Boredom Antidote for: when you want to make annoying sounds and laugh at people

Taboo is a game where you give your friends clues in order to write a word or phrase. To make things more complicated, you are not allowed to say obvious clues. These are the taboo words, for which the punishment is the sound of squeaking toy. Forbidden words make this game very challenging. For example, if someone has to guess the word “avocado” forbidden words could be “green”, “guacamole”, “pit”, “fruit”, and “eat”.
Taboo encourages players to work their imagination and speaking skills to describe words in ways they wouldn’t normally do. It can be useful for those who want to improve their writing because it forces people to express themselves in less banal ways.

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Scattergories

scattergories

Scattergories is an amusing categorical word game.

Best boredom antidote for: wanting a challenge

Playing Scattergories is simple. During each play, your team is given a category. Then, by rolling the dice, your group is also given a letter. From there, they must then name objects in that category beginning with that letter. The object is to write as many words as possible. Meanwhile, the other team writes for this same topic using the same starting letter. Your team gets points for unique answers that the other group did not come up with.
Scattergories rewards creativity and the ability to think quickly. Its speed makes it an upbeat and entertaining way to spend some time. It is a great game to bring to parties because of the team aspect and its simple rules.

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Tapple

tapple

With speedy wordplay that puts your mind to the challenge, Tapple is one of the 10 best word board games.

Best Boredom Antidote for: when Scrabble just seems too slow to play.

Tapple is a similar category game to Scattergories. Instead of being limited to words on dice, in Tapple, certain letters get eliminated just as soon as a word starting with them is said. Then the turn goes on to another person. To explain it more clearly, if the first player has to name a fruit and she says “apple” no one for the rest of the game can use words starting with the letter “a”. As expected, playing becomes progressively more difficult as letters are eliminated. To make things even harder, players only have a finite amount of time to answer. With Tapple, you can stretch your vocabulary while challenging your ability to think on your feet.

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Word A Round

wordaround

Word A Round is a unique game probably unlike any you have played before.

Best Boredom Antidote for: wanting an interesting twist on word searches

Imagine doing a word search for a single word while competing with other people. Then, imagine that not only do you have to find the word amongst a bunch of letters, but that the word is written in a spiral. It makes things much more confusing! This game stretches your mind in a fun race to figure out the word before your friends. It is suitable for children who know how how to read, despite its challenges.

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Pairs in Pears

pairsinpears

Pairs in Pears is made by the same makers as Bananagrams with much of the same fun.

Best Boredom Antidote for: fruit cravings

Just like in Bananagrams, Pairs in Pears comes in a cute fruit bag and emphasizes word play that can go anywhere. True to its name, the goal is to be able to match up a pair of two intersecting words. An intersecting pair would have one word read from left to right and then another read vertically. They would share a letter in common and appear as words would in a crossword puzzle.
Pairs in Pears can use very short words of just 3 letters so it works even for children as young as seven. Just like Bananagrams, it is perfect for travel with its convenient sack and small pieces. Just be careful not to lose any in the car!

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Word on the Street

wordonthestreet

Word on the Street was the 2010 Favorite Brainy Games Winner.

Bests Boredom Antidote for: when you’re in the mood for a party game

Here’s another category game that will catch your attention. When it is your team’s turn, you pick up a category card. Then you must name as many items in a category as possible. Simple enough. The goal is to find the longest word possible in order to get as far as one can manage to the other side of the street on the board. Meanwhile, opposing players try their best to distract you as the timer runs out. Even though it works excellently for teams and up to 8 people, this game still works for 2 players. It is simple enough to be mastered in just a few minutes too. Overall Word on the Street offers great high velocity entertainment for both children and adults alike.

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Mad Gab

madgab

Mad Gab is humorous entertainment fit for when you want to have a few laughs.

Best Boredom Antidote for: when you want to raise the energy in a crowd

Mad Gab is a very unique word game. In order to play, one draws a card with what looks like a bunch of non sequiter words that make very little sense. You must say the words out loud and slur them to understand their secret message. This is an awesome game for parties. As far as age groups go, Mad Gab is great for children who have decent reading abilities. Mad Gab is definitely difficult because each card is a puzzle and there is a timer to race against. In that sense, Mad Gab is probably best for children old enough to not be easily frustrated by short deadlines and hard tasks. Adults should love this game though.

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Boggle

boggle

With Boggle, your word search changes every three minutes.

Best Boredom Antidote for: teaching your kids important reading skills

Boggle is a word search that never goes stagnate. The board holds a serious of letter cubes that can turn and flip around. For every turn, a player must seek as many words as possible in word search fashion before a 3 minute timer runs out. The more words a person finds, the more points they get. To be good at Boggle, one must work their visual acuity and their verbal reading skills. This activity is especially beneficial for young children who’ve started to learn to automatically recognize certain words rather than sounding them out.
Since it uses a timer, this game can also be played quickly. There’s no need to skip a game on a day when there is limited time.

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All in all, players can get several benefits from word games. They get the fun and boredom displacing entertainment. They can receive the benefits of working their minds and of course, they can practice their vocabulary and reading skills. In addition, taking the time off for leisurely activities like board games give adults and children alike time to relax and socialize with others. Last, players have a chance to practice an act of creativity every round. These benefits are what make these games some of the 10 best word board games available.