Overview

BuyWord is a word game with an economic twist. Players pay cash to buy letter tiles, then form words to sell back at a profit. Both the cost of purchasing tiles and the payoff for selling words are based on the total number of pips (dots) on the tiles, squared. The player with the most money at the end wins.

Components

• 108 Letter Tiles (each with a pip value)
• 9 Wild Tiles
• 4 Price Lists
• 1 Special Die (results: 2, 3, 4, 5, and “choice”)
• Play Money
• Handy Carry Bag

Setup

1. Each player starts with $200 (2x $50, 3x $20, 2x $10, 3x $5, 5x $1). Remaining money forms the bank.
2. Separate Wild tiles from letter tiles. Distribute Wild tiles by player count:
   • Solo: 8 wild tiles
   • 2 players: 4 each
   • 3 players: 3 each
   • 4 players: 2 each
3. Place letter tiles in the bag.
4. Determine the first Leader by any agreed method.

Turn Structure

The game is played in rounds. Each round has these phases:

1. Roll the Die

The Leader rolls the special die. The result (2-5, or Leader’s choice of 2-5) determines how many tiles each player draws this round.

2. Draw Tiles

Starting with the Leader, then clockwise, each player draws the indicated number of tiles from the bag. Drawn tiles must be kept separate from tiles held from previous rounds.

3. Buy Tiles

Starting with the Leader, each player decides whether to buy their drawn tiles.

• Cost = (total pips on all drawn tiles) squared
• Example: tiles with total 8 pips cost $64 (8 x 8)
• It is all or nothing — you cannot buy just some tiles.
• If you choose not to buy (or cannot afford), tiles are removed from the game.
• Purchased tiles may be combined with tiles from previous rounds.

4. Sell Words

After all players have bought or discarded, each player may form word(s) from any tiles they possess.

• Word value = (total pips on the word’s letter tiles) squared
• Up to 1 Wild tile may be used per word (substitutes for any letter).
• Sold words’ tiles are removed from the game.
• Challenged words: the loser pays a $20 penalty.

5. End of Round

• 8-tile limit: No player may hold more than 8 letter tiles (Wild tiles don’t count). Excess must be sold as words or removed from the game.
• The die passes to the player on the Leader’s left (new Leader).

Actions

Action	Description
Buy tiles	Pay (pips squared) to keep drawn tiles
Sell word	Collect (pips squared) for a valid word
Hold tiles	Keep up to 8 unsold tiles for future rounds

Scoring / Victory Conditions

End of Game

The final round occurs when the last letter tiles are drawn (there will usually be fewer than the die indicates). After all tiles are bought or removed, all players sell any words they can. Unused tiles are lost.

The player with the most money wins.

Solitaire benchmarks: $800 = fair, $900 = good, $1000 = outstanding.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Capitalized, hyphenated, and foreign words are generally not acceptable (agree before play).
• Only 1 Wild tile per word.
• If the bag runs out mid-draw (not all players got enough tiles), no one buys — tiles are removed from play.
• Money is never exchanged between players; all transactions go through the bank.
• If a player cannot afford tiles and doesn’t want to pass, they must discard.

Player Reference

Pricing Formula: Total pips squared = cost to buy / value to sell

Total Pips	Cost/Value ($)
1	1
2	4
3	9
4	16
5	25
6	36
7	49
8	64
9	81
10	100
11	121
12	144
13	169
14	196
15	225

Round Sequence:

1. Leader rolls die
2. All draw tiles
3. All buy or discard
4. All sell words
5. Enforce 8-tile limit
6. Pass die left