Going Bananas!

Some time ago as I prepared for an upcoming trip, I bought a word game book called, Banana-Grams. If you know me, you know I LOVE word games. Scrabble, Bookworm, crosswords, anything with words and I'm in! So when I saw the book, I had to have it. I gave it a glance but really never got into it. I'll be honest, I didn't really get it. It was more than merely unscrambling words, it was banana boats, banana splits, banana shakes....etc. (That translates adding/changing letters to create new words, connecting words (like crosswords), turning one word into another word through a chain of letter changes....etc. The banana references were completely lost on me. I left it in my carry on bag and almost forgot about it. Then a friend starting mentioning a game by the same name. Odd, as she as referring to a table game played with tiles. Now, I was really confused. Then one day while waiting for a prescraiption at Walgreens, I noticed an end rack full of bananas. Well, not real bananas, but rather cloth bags in the shape and color of bananas. I stopped and caught a glimpse of the name on the side of the bag. BananaGrams. Price = $14.99. It seemed a bit much to pay for something I truly had no real knowledge of (and there was no help on the outer packaging to aid in figuring it out). But, I decided if it was a word game, surely I would enjoy it.

It was the best $15 investment I've made in ages!!!!

I LOVE it!

Two players (you can play with more, we just haven't yet) draw 21 tiles a piece. You then start creating words, connecting them to each other (like crosswords). Each time a player uses up all their letters each player draws another tile. First player to use all of their letters after the last tile is drawn from the bag WINS! It is like playing Scrabble without a board and zero wait time between turns! It is quick moving, easy to play, and very compact. If you haven't gotten in on the craze, I strongly suggest you try it! But I'm warning you....it's rather addicting!

And what about the book? It makes a LOT more sense to me now. I found it was more fun after playing the "real" game. So back in my travel bag it goes. Since the game version isn't ideal for airplanes....the book will make a nice travel edition!

enjoy trying new things!

-d.