One of my favorite games of all time is Bananagrams, a tile-based word game that’s portability and versatile playability has made it a staple among my friends.
Bananagrams taps into three main types of fun: challenge, competition, and expression.
During gameplay, players are challenged to adapt to randomness. That is, they must create a board of words out of randomly drawn tiles. When a player is done with their board, and calls “peel” (everyone takes a new tile), they must again adapt to randomness to work the new tile into their existing board. This keeps the challenge ever-evolving until the end of gameplay, and differentiates it from a pure vocabulary quiz. Some of the joy comes from “figuring out the game” (for example, learning quick two-letter additions for difficult letters: “qi, ax, is”). The first time your opponent plays “qi”, you might want to bang-your-head-against-the-wall. But once you’re “in” on the tricks, they’re a delight to implement.
Additionally, players compete as they race to peel. When a player completes their board and “peels”, they win the race. The game’s design allows for many micro-competitions through the peel-calling process, before the eventual game’s winner is decided at the final peel. This means players not only have to figure out the challenges, but have to figure out the challenges first.
Finally, building Bananagram boards is a fun form of expression where players can show how they think through the words they choose. While being creative with words isn’t a formal game mechanic, the words we know and use inevitably reflect our identity. At the end of each game, my friends and I try and finish our boards, then give a “word tour” of all the words we’ve put together. This allows us to share and recognize each others’ self-expressions, which makes players feel seen regardless of the formal game outcome.
