Bananagrams

Bananagrams is a word game [ [http://www.boardgames.com/bananagrams.html boardgames.com] ] in which lettered tiles are used to spell words, designed by Rena Nathanson of [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/index-us.asp Bananagrams International] of Cranston, Rhode Island. [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press10.asp The Green, August 2006] ] [ [http://www.playthings.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6546490&articleid=CA6583274 playthings.com] ] Nathanson conceived and developed the idea for the game with the help of her family. [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press11.asp Toys n' Playthings, "Featured Games and Puzzles", April 2006] ] The name is derived from the founding family's claim that its the "anagram game that will drive you bananas!" [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/beginnings.asp Bananagram Beginnings] ] Beginning as a family innovation, the game was made available to the public in January 2006 at the London Toy Fair. [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press8.asp Toy News, December 2006] ]

The object of the game is to arrange one's tiles faster than opponents and be the first to cause the pool of unused tiles to be exhausted. The tiles come in a pack that is made to look like a banana in its peel. [ [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/27225 boardgamegeek.com] ] Bananagrams was listed as a must-have, [ [http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/07/14/the_1_thing/ The Boston Globe, July 14 2008] ] one of the top ten best travel games [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press.asp The Independent, May 21 2007] ] and has been listed as a best-seller among toy and gift retailers. [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press2.asp Toy & Family Entertainment, January 2008] ] [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press12.asp Giftware Review, "The Next Big Thing", March 2006] ]

Gameplay

The game consists of 144 lettered tiles [ [http://www.toycrossing.com/bananagrams/index.shtml toycrossing.com] ] that are placed face-down on the playing surface so that all the tiles appear identical. A similar number of tiles are picked by each player, who turn the tiles over to see the lettered side. Each player begins arranging the letters to form words. When a player uses up all of his or her tiles, he or she calls out "peel," and each player must choose a new tile from the pool of remaining tiles, called the "bunch." The name "Bananagrams" is a play on the word anagrams, as one must often rearrange the words one has already formed in order to allow newly chosen lettered tiles to be placed into ones grid. [ [http://www.creativekidstuff.com/bananagrams.html creativekidstuff.com] ]

If at any time during play, one has a letter or letters that he or she does not wish to fit into his or her word arrangement, he or she can exchange each letter for three tiles from the "bunch" and calling out "dump."

Play continues with players calling out "peel" when they again fit their tiles into their crossword-style word arrangements until a player calls "peel" and there are not enough remaining tiles in the "bunch" for all players to take one; the player who has placed all of his tiles into his or her word arrangement calls out "bananas" and is declared the winner if all of his or her words are valid upon inspection.

The letter distribution is as follows: [Obtained from a complete set of 144 lettered tiles.]
*2: J, K, Q, X, Z
*3: B, C, F, H, M, P, V, W, Y
*4: G
*5: L
*6: D, S, U
*8: N
*9: R, T
*11: O
*12: I
*13: A
*18: E

Comparison to other games

Bananagrams has been compared to Scrabble without the board. [ [http://www.toycrossing.com/bananagrams/index.shtml toycrossing.com] ] In fact, some people use Scrabble tiles in lieu of purchasing Bananagrams. Because Bananagrams can be played by people at any reading level, the game is even good for children starting to learn how to spell, and has been touted as both educational [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press4.asp Christmas Toy Review] ] as well as popular among consumers. An independent psychologist reviewed Bananagrams and expressed her recommendation of Bananagrams as a positive example of creativity stimulation because, perhaps unlike Scrabble, the goal is to play all of the tiles, which generates a need to configure and reconfigure one's word grid to accept all of the letters. [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press9.asp Evaluation by Beth Carroll, PsyD, writing for ToyDirectory Monthly Magazine, October 2006] ]

Awards

Bananagrams has received numerous awards for its innovation, popularity among consumers and educational value:
*Gold Award, "Good Toy Guide" (UK 2006) [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press8.asp Toy News, 2006] ]
*Best Toy Bronze Award, "Right Start Magazine" (UK 2006) [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/press8.asp Toy News, 2006] ]
*Top Toy of the Year Award, "Creative Child Magazine" 2007 [ [http://www.bananagrams-intl.com/awards.asp Awards bibliography] ]
*NAPPA Honors Award, "Parenthood.com" [ [http://www.parenthood.com/article-topics/article-topics.php?Article_ID=10728 Parenthood.com] ]

Internet version

On July 24 2008, video game publisher Majesco Entertainment announced that it will be launching an internet version of Bananagrams on August 18, 2008 that will be available on Facebook, a social networking website. [ [http://www.playthings.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6546490&articleid=CA6583274 playthings.com] ] [ [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19561 Gamasutra.com] ]

References