Word XChange Junior is a clever game of anagrams for kids. An offspring of the excellent Word XChange, this board game allows children to compete as they build words and attempt to collect as many word cards as possible. Two to five players (or teams) can participate.
The game comes with a set of good-quality pieces: a game board (hexagon shape), a set of 20 special word cards, 126 magnetic letter tiles, an hourglass timer, and a soft drawstring storage pouch for the letter tiles. The goal of the game is to win word cards by building words, anagram-style. Winning a word card doesn't mean you will hold on to it. If someone finds a way to add a letter, rescramble the letters in your word and come up with a new one, they can claim your card. For example, if a player has earned a card by building the word "EAT", another player with the letter "F" can take the card by spelling "FEAT" (or "FATE"). Yet another player (or the same player who lost the card in the first place) can, in turn, win the card with a letter "R" to spell "AFTER".
In this Junior version, the word cards are preprinted with three-letter words. Below them is a list of suggested anagrams. Because the rules of the game are a little difficult to digest at the outset, it is probably best if parents read through the rule book before kids start the game. Once the mechanics of the game are understood, it's wildly fun. Children look at words in a whole new way and learn new vocabulary words as they play. For younger children who are not yet word-savvy, variations are possible. Players can choose whether or not they want to use the included hourglass timer, for example, and our kid testers created all kinds of games by simply using the cards and letter tiles.
