Scrabble Slam!

Race to swap one letter at a time in a four-letter word, and be the first to empty your hand.

Designer: Joe Wetherell
Published by: ASS Altenburger Spielkarten
Editions by: Hasbro, Parker Brothers, Winning Moves Games (USA), Funskool Games, Cartamundi

A real-time card game for people who like to play with letters. Every card has a different letter on each side, with small corner letters that tell you which letters sit on each face. Somebody builds a four-letter word to start the pile, and then everyone races to swap out one letter at a time with cards from their own hand, turning one word into another as fast as they can. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins. It is the 2008 Scrabble spin-off, a quick fifteen minutes of frantic spelling, and it rewards quick eyes more than a big vocabulary. Mostly English-language fun, so it suits groups comfortable with English words.

Two-sided letter cards with corner hintsReal-time swapping of one letter at a timeFirst to empty their hand wins

Who it's for

You like word games but not the slow thinking, and want a fast scramble over a single four-letter word.

Not for you if…

You dislike time pressure or play in a language other than English. It rewards quick eyes over deep thinking, and the word-play depends on English spelling.

Vibe's take

Frantic and silly. Everyone is staring at the same word at the same time, slapping down cards, and the winner is whoever sees the tweak first.