Board Games That Require Verbal Skills

There are a number of board games available to the public that focus much attention on both words and vocabulary. Playing one of these games is easier for someone with a large vocabulary, yes, but should be recommended to anyone, for they have been shown to help improve verbal skills for people of all ages and educations. Some of the games available focus specifically on the verbal, speaking side of a good vocabulary. The better one can speak and enunciate their language, the better they will perform. Other games focus more on the words and the knowledge of a vocabulary, testing and helping players with this area of words.

Taboo and Mad Gab are two games that focus more on the speaking side of a good vocabulary. Taboo functions under making teammates guess a specific word without using a list of certain banned words. These certain words are considered "taboo." If a player can think of enough specific words or terms to use in order to lead teammates to the conclusion of the highlighted word in question, points are earned. Knowing a large number of alternate words which can communicate similar ideas is a great help to any players participating in the round. Taboo requires a lot of quick thinking in order to accomplish its goals. Mad Gab, on the other hand, focuses its energy on enunciation skills. Players are given a phrase that, in actuality, is written out phoenetically. Figuring out exactly what the phrase reads, however, can be quite tricky and the player who knows how to use enunciation skills the best will do well in this game.

Other games, however, are more concerned with the words actually required for a good vocabulary. The more of these words which are known, the better a player can do. Speed Scrabble, for example, is an exciting variation on the classic game of Scrabble that allows players to think and act quickly while still giving the chance for creativity that players of the classic game have come to love. The concept behind the game is simple and its execution is quick. Players are never forced to wait for another to finish their turn and never have to deal adjusting their strategy because someone stole the spot they had in mind for their next turn.

The game begins with a basic Scrabble set. The board for the game is placed to the side and ignored. All 100 of the letter tiles are placed, face down, in the center of the table and shuffled around. Each player then randomly chooses 7 tiles and places them in front of themselves, still face down. A player is then designated as the first "Go-sayer" and when every player is ready, this person will shout, "Go!" All players then flip their 7 tiles and proceed to use all of the tiles to make words in the form of a basic crossword. All the tiles must be used and all of the words must intersect each other, much as one would find on a classic Scrabble game with the exception that the player builds only on their own words. Players are challenged with this game to think creatively, outside the box, building on their own vocabularies to benefit more than other players. All of these games, however, help to encourage verbal skills in any player interested in learning.

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