How to play “The fastest word”
Set up
Number of players
2 to 8 players, ages 7 and up. For six players or more, we recommend playing in pairs.
What you need to play
You need a pack of letter dice with dots and paper and pencil for each player.
👉🏻 Don’t have letter dice? You’ll find a buying guide further down.
Deciding the number of rounds
We recommend starting with a 5-round game.
Goal of the game
What do you need to do to win?
Your mission? Make the longest word—and be quicker than everyone else!
“The fastest word” rules: playing a game
Rolling dice and thinking of a word
The dice are rolled – no matter who rolls them – and all players at the same time try to create the longest word they can think of with the letters that have been rolled. When you’ve got it, jot it down and flip it face-down on the table—being the fastest earns you bonus points!
It’s over!
When all but one paper is in the center of the table, the round is over. The slowest player runs out of points.
Sum of points
Then reveal all the words and score them like this:
- Each player -except the last one- will add as many points as letters in his word: 4 letters = 4 points.
- Speed bonus: the first paper down earns you full points (equal to number of players), next gets one less, and so on. Last one gets nothing.
- Penalty for slowness: the last player will not add anything.
Rule 1 – About vowels
If a single vowel or no vowel is rolled, the dice can be rolled again to change the letters.
Rule 2 – About valid words
No names, no weird verb forms, no foreign words, no abbreviations — and absolutely no made-up nonsense!
Rule 3 – About a possible wildcard
Some packs of letter dice have a die with a joker on one side. The joker can be used as any letter but does not add points. If it has been used to join two words in both words, it must symbolize the same letter.
Rule 4 – No external aids
During a turn it is not possible to consult anywhere whether a word is valid or not.
Game over – And the winner is…
End of game
The game ends when the rounds agreed upon before the start of the game have been played.
And the winner is…
At that time, the points obtained in each round are added up. The player with the most points is the winner.
Variants of “The fastest word”.
In pairs
If you play in pairs, both components can speak and actively participate in the creation of the words during their turn.
Final by number of points
Subsequent turns… In this variant, the game ends when a player reaches a certain number of points, for example, 50 points, always finishing the current round.
Buying guide
You’ll find letter dice in specialist board game stores, although the best price and the best deals are usually on Amazon.
Games similar to Crossdice
With the letter dice you can play many more games, such as Crossdice and Longest Word.
