Scruble? Or Inscrutable?

We got a new game to review at our house,  called Scruble.

Scruble....makes me think of the word inscrutable.  They sort of sound alike, don't they?

Maybe it is just me....thinking about my dad.  He always used to say that women were inscrutable. 

The actual definition from Websters of inscrutable is...."not easily understood, enigmatic".

The word inscrutable may (or may not) describe women ....but it does not describe Scruble....which is.....

"THIS". 

See it?  Far left?  T on the top...H-I-S facing you?  7 points



Scruble is actually....Scruble Cube, a 3D word game and, unlike women (according to my Dad anyway),  it is easily understood.  This game is touted as sort of a combination of Scrabble and Rubik's cube (which, by the way, I had, like, totally mastered in the 80's - thank you very much!).



The simple explanation of the game is it is a big cube with letters on it that you move around to make words.  But, it is....

"MORE" than that.  

Do you see it?  Far right side?  M-O-R on the top and E in red?  6 points  

You can play this by yourself, or with up to 4 players.  Although, I think you could play it with as many people as you like....just keep passing the cube around, but, you would probably have to have something to do while you waited for others to take their.... 

"TURN".

See it?  Far left.....4 points.

If you aren't playing alone, the first player takes a turn and forms a word, then adds up the letter score - just like in scrabble - but, unlike Scrabble, the next player can form a totally different word and not connect it to the first word....or, they can get bonus points if they do attach it. 

There are other ways of getting bonus points, like if you have an 8 letter or more word, you get 10 bonus points, or if you are able to get your word to spread over 3 sides of the cube.  There are also extra bonus pegs spread out on the cube....like 3x letter.....or 2x word scores.

Here is A-man with one of his spelling words this week.  READ...but he matched it up with a 2x letter score....so he got 6 points.

The game comes with cute little score cards and a little hourglass timer.  We actually didn't use the timer much because it seemed like too much work to keep turning it over. 

I know.....it sounds lame to me too....now that I type it.....but, it is....

"TRUE".  4 points

This game is one of those that keeps growing on you.  We were sort of intimidated by it at first, but really, if you can spell CAT, you can play this game.  We now love it...although A-girl and I probably love it .....

"BEST" of all.  5 points

The Scruble Cube website has a section on Education that was really cool.  It gives ways to incorporate the game into your schooling (classroom style or homeschool style)....and not just as a spelling game, but math, logic and science.....

"TOO" 3 points
(How do you like my dirty countertop with the little pink brain eraser on it?)

One of these more advanced ways of playing the game is to "spell" the abbreviations for the Periodic Table of Elements.

Quick!  Go back in time to 10th grade chemistry....

Which one do you see on this???? (Answer below)

There are lots of math game options too  - because you do actually add up the scores for your words.  There are lots of ideas on how to use this in a classroom setting to have teams competing against each other starting with giving them one minute to spell 3 letter words, and moving up each round in both time and number of letters.  Or, even one where you target a specific vowel each round and they come up with the best word they can using that vowel....with bonus points if they get a double vowel word....like moon.

One version of the "educational" game we used was the one where you had to make a word, add up its points and then look up the definition of the word in the dictionary. 

Honestly, though, we used this game a lot when we were alone and just needed to fill some time....sort of like people do with Solitaire.

This will definitely be coming with us on upcoming road trips - because it can be used by individual kids (and me) or we can start a competition among them ( just in case there isn't enough sibling fighting already happening in the van)!

We had a lot of fun with this game.  This one is going into our game night rotation and I am pretty sure it will stick around.

Go check out their site and check out some of the fun you can have with the Scruble Cube.

You can get Scruble Cube directly from their site for $24.95.  If you really use your cube a lot, you can even get replacement letters for your cube for $4.95.


Check out what other TOS reviewers thought of Scruble Cube here. 
We received a free Scruble Cube in exchange for a honest review of the game.

Answer:  The symbol CL is the abbreviation for the element.....Chlorine!