Game Review: ‘Words Over Easy’ from Winning Moves Games

Words Over Easy from Winning Moves Games cooks up a new spin on spelling games. Using letters to create words has been a part of gaming for centuries, but the innovative use of letters not to use sets Words Over Easy apart. Players will have to not only think of words that contain particular letters but also check themselves to ensure their chosen words are allowed.

The rules in Words Over Easy are very straightforward, ensuring games go smoothly so that players can focus on word-building. To play, one player drops the six egg-shaped dice into the specialty “Egg Sorter” dice tower, which divides them into good eggs and rotten. The timer is flipped, and players race to write down as many words as they can that contain all of the good letters and do not contain any of the bad ones. For example, a good set of “D”, “H”, and “V” and bad of “L”, “W”, and “Y” would allow “hovered” but not “devilish” on account of the “L.”

When the timer runs out, all players compare their lists. Any matching words among the lists are crossed out, meaning only unique words will be scored. Words up to six letters are just one point, while words of seven or more letters are two points. This encourages players to think of plurals and past tense to add as much as possible to get over that line to double points on very unique words. Rounds continue until a player scores 20 points, with the highest score as the winner.

While rolls will often come out with an even three-three split, the dice also readily settle with two on one side and four on the other. This causes a great deal of variety in the game since there is more choice in requiring fewer letters but more skill in thinking of words that avoid the forbidden letters. Players will likely find their preference and keep fingers crossed for a particular way to play, whether with more choice or more skill from restricted letters.

Words Over Easy’s rules comes with several variations, including not counting spelling, and using five letter eggs rather than six. The Challenging Game version comes with a stack of category cards such as “Things You Sit On” and “Breakfast Foods.” Some players may enjoy the inspiration of a category when coming up with words, but they will have to beware of repeating common answers, unless that, too, becomes allowed. With so many different ways to play, each house will likely soon set out its own favorite version.

Words Over Easy is a word-building dice game for two to four players aged eight and up. It is great practice for those seeking to boost their vocabularies as well as serving as an extra twist to those who want more of a puzzle in a word game. After just a few rounds, brains will be buzzing as players sharpen their word-recall.