A Hybrid Winner

I should be blogging about my own game project, I know, but I just wanted to mention that Games magazine has chosen its 2005 Game of Year and, surprise, it's not German. In fact, it's by a deceased American inventor, Sid Sackson. The game is called Buyword, and has not been published previously.

Buyword is particularly pertinent to our class because it could have been the result of our exercise in which we modified classic games by incorporating an unexpected descriptor or action. In this case, Sackson modified Scrabble buy combining it with elements from a game about finance. The game consists of a collection of letter tiles and a pile of money. Each tile has a value indicated by the number of pips. The idea is to buy tiles, assemble long words and sell the words back to the bank at a profit. Thus, the game incorporates money management and investment strategies, concepts not previously associated with word games.

I haven't played Buyword, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.