Alpha Blitz

Alpha Blitz is a word game designed by Mike Selinker and published by Wizards of the Coast. Alpha Blitz is based on the concept of a letter bank, as players make words using the letter cards on the table as many times as they like (e.g., LENS can become SENSELESSNESS). The game contains 98 letter cards and 10 "blitzes" (lightning bolt cards) that destroy letters and bring the game toward conclusion.

The game is really two games in one: Alpha and Blitz. Alpha is the more methodical game, where players take turns replacing one of the letters on the table with one from their hand or destroying a letter with a Blitz, then making the longest word they can. Players score 1 point for making a word, plus 1 point for each letter in the word that is greater than the number of letters on the table. The four red-bordered letters (J, Qu, X, and Z) also score an extra point each time they're used. The game ends when there are only two letter piles left on the table.

Blitz is played in rounds, with all players playing simultaneously. Each player is in control of two letter piles. The first player to call out a word gets 1 point (plus bonuses for red-bordered letters), and then is out of the hand. The next player to call out a word must make a word that is at least one letter longer than the previous word, and gets 2 points plus bonuses. The next player must make a longer word, and so on. The last player in a round to make a word gets another bonus point, so sometimes players hold back until the last possible instant to make their words. Once a player blitzes both of his or her letter piles, the game ends and the highest scoring player wins.

Alpha Blitz was Games Magazine's 1998 Word Game of the Year.

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