a Yaddy-Yadda game for 2-4 players
(c) 2002 Stephen Glenn and Mike Petty
Skeeter is like a skeet-shooting competition, except that you're using letters. Hence the name, Skeeter. There are five targets to shoot at worth 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 pts.
A Yaddy Yadda deck, five index cards and five chips. You'll also need some paper and pencil for scoring.
Find five index cards. In a pinch, just some slips of paper will work well also. Write 10 at the top of one card, 20 on another, and so on up to 50. Then under each number, write each player's name on the card. Place the cards in the middle of the table, from 10 to 50. Then put a chip next to each card. Deal one card face up to the right of each index card. You might want to put the letters about 1 foot from the index cards.
Deal each player 6 cards. Then deal a card from the remaining stack. The player whose last name comes first alphabetically after this card (the alphabet loops from Z-A) goes first.
On a turn a player either plays a card or passes.
Playing a Card consists of taking a card from your hand and placing it in a row next to one of the index cards that you haven't already claimed (as described below). When you do this, you place it on either end, or between any letter(s) already there. You do not disturb the order of the previous cards. After playing a card you must state a word that has those exact letters in that exact order. For example, by adding a "B" between an "R" and "T", the "RBT" could be used to make the words: Rabbit, Orbit, Robot, etc. Note that the word does not have to start or end with those letters.
Here are a few plays that are not legal:
After stating an acceptable word, place the chip next to your name on that card, to "claim" it. This shows that you were the last player to place a card there. Finally, draw a card to your hand from the deck (unless the deck has been exhausted).
Passing consists of refraining from playing a card and ending one's turn. You may not re-enter the round after passing. Players may choose to set a time limit on turns. A player who hasn't played a card in that time must pass. Of course, a player with no cards in his hand must pass too.
Once all players have passed, the round ends. Each player scores points based on the index cards that he still has claimed.
Play a number of rounds -- 3 should be quite sufficient. The high score at the end of the game wins.
If you want to play with a challenge rule, pick a dictionary at the start of the game. If a player wants to challenge someone else's word, he must do so before the next turn starts. If the challenged word is found to be illegal in some way, the active player must take the card back to his hand and he loses his turn. Otherwise, the challenger loses his next turn. Losing a turn is not considered passing, so they may stay in the current round.
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Updated 11/11/02