Methodology for creating sets of related word games and puzzles based on linking rationally chosen letter pairs and/or triplets and linking words that are transformations of each other

Abstract

A word game for being played among one or more participants includes a plurality of two letter word bits, each having a fixed letter combination, wherein the one or more participants attempt to create words of at least four letters by combining the word bits.

I/we claim: 
     
         1 . A word game for being played among one or more participants, the game comprising: a plurality of two letter word bits, each having a fixed letter combination, wherein the one or more participants attempt to create words of at least four letters by combining the word bits. 
     
     
         2 . The word game according to  claim 1 , further including a plurality of three letter word bits, each having a fixed letter combination, where in the one or more participants attempt to create words of at least four letters by combining the three and two letter word bits. 
     
     
         3 . The word game according to  claim 2 , wherein the three letter word bits includes sets of letters that are common three letter beginnings and endings to words. 
     
     
         4 . The word game according to  claim 1 , wherein the two letter word bits are each individually formed on a three dimensional object. 
     
     
         5 . The word game according to  claim 4 , wherein the three dimensional object is one of tiles, cards, die, cubes, chips, tokens, polyhedra, and spheres. 
     
     
         6 . The word game according to  claim 2 , wherein the two letter word bits are each individually formed on a three dimensional object. 
     
     
         7 . The word game according to  claim 6 , wherein the three dimensional object is one of tiles, cards, die, cubes, chips, tokens, polyhedra, and spheres. 
     
     
         8 . The word game according to  claim 1 , further including a plurality of individual letter pieces, where in the one or more participants attempt to create words of at least two letters by combining the individual letters and two letter word bits. 
     
     
         9 . The word game of  claim 1 , wherein the word game is played among a plurality of participants and further comprises a set of rules for the word game, the rules including:
 (a) assigning a target number of words of at least four letters to each of the plurality of participants,   (b) providing a shared pool of the plurality of word bits from which each of the plurality of participants selects a predetermined number of word bits to be included as part of a hand for the respective participant,   (c) creating, by each of the plurality of participants, words of at least four letters from the word bits from the hand of the respective participant, wherein the goal of the word game is to be the first participant to create the target number of words of at least four letters assigned thereto.   
     
     
         10 . The word game of  claim 1 , wherein the word game is played among a plurality of participants and further comprises a set of rules for the word game, the rules including:
 (a) assigning one of the participants a role as a gatekeeper,   (b) providing an enclosure in which the remaining participants are initially located, the enclosure including a shared pool of the plurality of the word bits,   (c) selecting, by each of the remaining participants, one word bit from the shared pool, and   (d) allowing, by the gatekeeper, two of the remaining participants to exit the enclosure when the combined word bits of the two of the remaining participants forms a word.   
     
     
         11 . The word game of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of word bits are divided into at least two groups, each of the at least two groups being assigned a different color, number, or symbol, the word game further comprising a set of rules for the word game, the rules including:
 (a) forming, by the one or more participants, words of at least four letters by combining word bits of different color, number, or symbol, and   (b) scoring points for each of the one or more participants based, at least partially, on the number of words of at least four letters created by each of the respective one or more participants.   
     
     
         12 . The word game of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a grid having at least two rows and at least two columns which intersect to form sections, each grid section being configured to receive one of the word bits or one of a plurality of individual letters; and   a set of rules for the word game, the rules including:
 (a) providing at least four of the word bits in a random order to the one or more participants, 
 (b) arranging, by the one or more participants, the at least four of the randomly ordered word bits into at least two words of four letters, and 
 (c) placing, by the one or more participants, the at least two words of four letters into respective rows of the grid such that another secret word of at least two letters is created in one of the columns of the grid. 
   
     
     
         13 . The word game of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of word bits are divided into at least two groups, each of the at least two groups being assigned a different color, the word game further comprising a set of rules for the word game, the rules including:
 (a) selecting one of the at least two groups of word bits,   (b) forming, by the one or more participants, a target number of words of at least four letters by combining word bits of the selected group.   
     
     
         14 . A word game wherein the one or more participants attempt to create chains of two or more words which are linked by the type of link selected from the group consisting of double letter change, single letter addition, double letter addition, single letter removal, double letter removal and triple letter change. 
     
     
         15 . The word game of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a grid having at least three rows and at least three columns which intersect to form sections, each section being configured to receive a letter, the grid sections in the rows located between the first and last rows of the grid initially being empty;   a starting word provided in the first row of the grid and being formed by a plurality of letters;   a target word provided in the last row of the grid and being formed by a plurality of letters, the starting word and the target word being different;   a guide disposed within the grid and being configured to provide assistance to the one or more participants in completing the word game, wherein the one or more participants attempt to complete the word game by filling in the initially empty grid sections with letters such that a word formed by the letters in any row of the grid is linked to a word formed by the letters in an adjacent row by double letter change.   
     
     
         16 . The word game of  claim 15 , wherein the guide comprises one or more letter blocks, each of which encompasses grid sections of a column across one row or multiple adjacent rows, each letter block indicating that the encompassed grid sections are to contain the same letter. 
     
     
         17 . The word game of  claim 15 , further comprising a vowel finder which informs the one or more participants whether an empty grid section is to contain a vowel or a consonant. 
     
     
         18 . The word game of  claim 15 , further comprising a code, which is a sequence of numbers and letters from which a word in one of the initially empty rows can be determined. 
     
     
         19 . A word game for being played among one or more participants, the game comprising:
 a first grid having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns which intersect to form sections, each section being configured to receive a letter, the grid sections initially being empty;   a second grid having a plurality of initially empty spaces, the number of empty spaces corresponding to the number of rows in the first grid;   a list of first clues having a word as a solution, each first clue corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of rows of the first grid, and at least one second clue having a word as a solution, the at least one second clue corresponding to the second grid,   wherein the one or more participants attempt to complete the word game by filling in the grid sections of the first grid such that a word formed by a word formed by the letters in a row of the grid is linked to a word formed by the letters in a preceding row by one of single letter change, double letter change, or triple letter change, and by filling in the spaces of the second grid using a letter from each of the rows of the first grid.   
     
     
         20 . The word game of  claim 19 , further comprising one or more letter blocks disposed in columns of the first grid, each letter block encompassing at least one row of the first grid and indicating that the encompassed grid sections are to contain the same letter.