K - 2
1 - YO YO OY! (An Easy Letter Game)
2 - A QUICK OY! (Easy, Fast Letter Game, Good for Competitions)
3 - Line OY! - Easy, Slow; Suitable for Solitaire
K - 4
4 - QUAD OY! (A word game that can be played slow or fast)
5 - Flash OY! - As fast as the dealer likes, no turns
6 - SURPRISE OY! (A Strategy Word Game)
K - 4 - Adult
7 - SLAPSPELL OY! (A Very Fast Word Game, Excellent for Competitions)
8 - Panic OY! - (very fast game)
Visit www.123oy.com to see our other great games.
E-mail us your stories or suggestions to: support@123oy.com
If you decide to run school competitions, please contact us.
P.O Box 2347, Weirton, WV 26062
©
1994,1998, 2000 Don Green
The word OY is pronounced as in JOY and is derived from the nautical
term AHOY or 'HOY and is used in Great Britain, Australia and elsewhere
as a greeting or exclamation to attract attention.
Version 3
SET CONTENTS:
The deck contains 120 cards: 105 cards with a letter and a number
from 1 to 9 for scoring purposes, 5 wild OY! cards & 10 blank
cards. The blanks can be used for unique language letters, extra
vowels, hyphens and apostrophes (remember to assign them high points).
TERMINOLOGY
Before play, shuffle the cards and let each player randomly choose
a card from the face-down deck. The player selecting the lowest
card (A is low, Z is high) deals and plays the first card. Play
follows a clockwise rotation.
Stock Pile - The face down pile of cards that remain after the hands
are dealt.
Discard Pile - Is started by turning a Stock Pile card face up. If
the Stock Pile is depleted during a game, the Discard Pile is turned
over to form a new Stock Pile.
All words created in the following games must be in one or more languages
that all players are familiar with and must consist of at least two
letters. Proper names are allowed only if this is agreed before the
game. OY! cards can substitute for any letter but have no score value.
Teachers: .Ask all students to shout OY! three times, then select
five students who, with your assistance, will play OY! for ten minutes.
Divide the other class members into teams to actively assist those
five students. Resolve all questions and problems before dividing
students into groups to play individually or in teams against each
other. Younger players or those less skilled in spelling should almost
always play in teams to build confidence.
GAME 1: YO YO OY! (An Easy Letter Game)
Each player Is dealt 7 cards which they hold face up in their hand
and one more from the Stock Pile is turned face up on the playing
surface. The first player must play a letter that is the same as
the Target card or within five letters of it in alphabetical order.
For instance, if B is the Target, the next card played must be either
A, Z, Y, X, W in one direction, or C, D, E, F, G in the other. If
that player plays an F then the next player must play a G,H,I,J or
K, and this alphabetical direction is maintained with each card played.
A player may change this direction by playing the same card or a "wild" OY!
card and calling "Reverse OY". A player who calls either
to change or maintain the direction may not then change his or her
mind. The alphabet always "wraps"; that is, X, Y, Z is
followed by A in one direction, and C, B, A is followed by Z in the
other. A player who cannot play a card picks up two penalty cards
from the Stock Pile and passes on that turn. Played cards are not
replenished from the Stock Pile and the goal is to be the first player
to have no cards left.
Tip: Arrange the cards in your hand in alphabetical order
GAME 2: A QUICK OY! (Easy, Fast Letter Game, Good for Competitions)
The object is to win all or most of the cards within a preset time
period. The OY! card is wild. Deal all the cards to the players,
who hold them face down in a stack. Each player in turn lays a
card face up on the previous card played. If a player's card is
within three letters up or down the alphabet, for example, if an
A is played and the next card played is either X, Y, Z, B, C, D
or if it's an OY! card, players can call OY!. The first to shout
OY! wins all the cards and places them at the bottom of his or
her stack and plays the next card. A player who calls OY! incorrectly
must play four penalty cards, one at a time. If any of these penalty
cards are within three letters of the previous card, any player
can call OY!, pick up those cards, and resume the game with no
more penalty cards required. If there is any uncertainty about
who called first, the game continues. A player with no cards left
must call the next OY to stay in the game.
Tips: The faster the game is played the more fun it is. To increase
the challenge, OY! can be called when a card played is from two to
four letters or from three to five letters up or down the alphabet.
A copy of the alphabet can be placed in front of younger children
for reference. Enforce the rule that players must rapidly pull the
cards from the far end of their stack by using their thumb and turn
them over and place them on top of the Target pile quickly in such
a manner that all players see the card simultaneously.
GAME 3: LINE OY! (Easy, Slow; Suitable for Solitaire)
Each player is dealt 9 cards, which players hold in their hands.
The dealer places a LINE of 9 cards face up on the table. The remaining
cards form the face-down Stock Pile. Each player in turn completes
a word that must include at least one of the letters from the LINE
and at least one letter from the player's hand. Words may be spelled
backward. After placing their cards on the LINE cards in the correct
position, players receive and record points as indicated on each
card used in the word, then replenish their hands to nine cards
from the Stock Pile. Played cards are left on the LINE. The OY!
card can represent any letter but has no value. The letter designation
of an OY! card that is already part of a word on the table can
be changed to another letter to form a new word. Players cannot
duplicate a word on top of the same word. A player unable to make
a word discards one letter card to the Discard Pile and replaces
it with a new card from the Stock Pile, but does not play on that
turn. When the Stock Pile is depleted, players count their scores
to select the winner.
Variations: To play solitaire, you make words until you have used
all the cards in the Stock Pile. You may also play for points against
time by trying to make the most words in a preset period.
Tips: To increase the challenge require words of at least 4 or more
letters. This is a great game to use the blank cards. Mark them with
hyphens and apostrophes and a high score value and place them in
separate piles face up on the table. A player can use one of these
cards at any time and get the bonus points.
GAME 4: QUAD OY! (A word game that can be played slow or fast)
A dealer is selected who holds all the cards. (The dealer also gets
a turn) The OY! card can represent any letter. The dealer places
4 cards face up in front of the first player who tries to make
one word using at least two of the of cards. A player who successfully
makes a word picks up the cards used in the word and puts them
in his or her Win Pile. Unused letters remain on the table and
are moved to the next player who is dealt an additional 4 cards.
If a player is unable to make a word all the cards are moved to
the next player. Play continues as each player receives an additional
4 cards each turn until all the cards are played and all possible
words made. The winner is the player with the most cards in his
or her Win Pile.
Variations: Consider making players use at least 3 cards in their
words. A fun variation is to have players invent words that cannot
be found in the dictionary and then have to define them.
Tips: To make the game faster set a turn time limit. Adjust the time
limit to suit the abilities of the players. Handicap better players
by giving them less time relative to the weaker players. A shorter
time period makes the game more exciting. The time can be counted
aloud by the next player or a timer such as the G8 from Dream Green
can be used.
GAME 5: FLASH OY! The word game. ( As fast as the dealer likes,
no turns )
The object of the game is to win the most cards. The OY! card can
be used as any letter. A selected dealer (who also plays) deals cards
face up on the playing surface so all the cards can be seen. If at
any time a player sees a combination of three or more cards that
spell a word, they shout the word. The first to shout wins the cards
that are used and places these to one side. When all the cards have
been dealt, players count their cards and the one with the most wins.
The player with the least cards becomes the dealer for the next game.
Tips: Select the weakest player to deal initially so they can control
the speed of the game. Mark the blank cards with hyphens and/or apostrophes
to include in the game.
Variations: Players are required to use more cards to make a word.
A fun alternative is that players have to try and make words that
are not in the dictionary and give them a definition.
GAME 6: SURPRISE OY! (A Strategy Word Game)
The object is to win the most cards. Each player receives 7 cards
and holds them face up without revealing them to other players.
The first player plays one letter to the table and chooses what
the target word shall be. Each player in turn is required to add
one letter to the target word, placing it in the proper position
to form the word. After placing a letter, a player may change the
target word by announcing a new word and rearranging the letters
into the correct order for the new word. The new word must include
all the letters of the earlier word that have already been played.
Players replenish their hands from the Stock Pile. A player who
cannot
play a card
must
pass,
placing one card onto the Discard Pile and replenishing from the
Stock Pile. The OY! card can be any letter but has no value. The
player who completes a word adds all of its cards to his or her
Win Pile and starts a new target word by laying out one card and
declaring the target word. The game ends when the Stock Pile is
depleted or a preset time limit is reached. The player with the
most cards, not counting those in hand, is the winner. If two or
more players have the same number of cards, the numbers on the
cards are added to determine which player has the highest point
total.
Tips: To make the game easier, use nine cards instead of seven.
GAME 7: SLAPSPELL OY! (A Very Fast Word Game, Excellent for Competitions)
Players are dealt 9 cards and hold them face up. A Target Letter
is turned up from the Stock Pile. If the Target Letter is an OY!
card it can be used to represent any vowel. OY! cards in players'
hands can represent any letter but have no point value. Players
try to find cards in their hand that form a word using the Target
Letter. The first to throw down the correct cards and yell OY!
wins those cards plus the Target Letter and places them in his
or her Win Pile. Any other players who threw down cards return
them to their hands. The winning player replenishes their hand
to 9 cards from the Stock Pile and turns up a new Target Letter.
The game ends when the Stock Pile is depleted or a preset time
limit is reached. The player with the most cards in his or her
Win Pile wins.
VARIATIONS:
Variation 1: To increase the challenge, two or more letters can be
turned over from the Stock Pile, all of which must be used to form
the word.
Variation 2: Better players can be given 12 cards, but are required
to spell words containing at least four letters.
Variation 3: To encourage longer words, count the number of cards
in each word and add that number as a bonus to the combined numerical
value of the cards. This score is recorded when each word is made.
The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins.
GAME 8: PANIC OY! (very fast game)
All the cards are spread face up on the table. Players do not take
turns. Players race each other to find combinations of cards that
spell a word. On finding a combination a player places these cards
face down in a neat pile in front of them to start their winning
pile. The first winning combination of cards is stacked vertically,
the next is placed on top of these in a horizontal position, the
next is placed vertically again and so on. When no more combinations
can be made players count their number of combinations. This makes
it quicker to count and makes it easier to check the winners card
combinations to see if they have them correct at the end of the
game. A variation of this game is to only accept 4 or maybe 5 card
combinations. The OY card can be used as any letter.
A-B-C
OY! THE FAMILY WORD GAME