Printable “Spooky Halloween Boggle” Game

This printable game is played just like the real game Boggle, but is already setup and has a Spooky, Halloween twist.

Directions

Printout and give every player a copy of the boggle game sheet and a pencil. Make sure to pass the game page to each player up-side-down so no one has an advantage of seeing the page first. Set a timer for 3 minutes and say “Go!” Players then turn over their game sheet and start looking for words.

Players must find as many words as they can by linking the letters up, down, side-to-side and diagonally, and then writing the words on the blank lines. You many only use each letter box once within a single word. In this holiday edition any Spooky or Halloween related word is worth double the points.

Just like real Boggle a valid word must follow these rules:

• The letters in the words must be connected in the correct order in the grid.
• The letters can be connected by an edge or a corner.
• The word doesn’t have to appear in a straight line. It can be tangled around.
• Each letter in the word must uniquely appear in the grid. (For example, if the word is ERASE, the letter E must appear twice in the grid. The word can’t just loop back and re-use the same E.)
• Words must be at least 3 letters long
• Words cannot be a proper noun, such as a name or place.

Scoring The Game (2 methods)

Traditional Boggle Scoring Method: In Boggle, you can only earn points for a valid word if no one else has found the word that you have. So in order to determine which words can be scored, have one person read their list of words out loud. If any two or more players have that word, then the players must all cross it off their list. After the first player is finished reading their word list, then the next player should read through their list and the players must cross off duplicate words they read. Continues this around the room until every player has read their list and everyone has a list of unique words they have found. Now they should count up their word points.

Faster Scoring Method: This scoring method is a bit faster since you do not have to compare word lists, but you can end up with a few ties if you have a lot of people. Basically you just allow the players to add up all their words, no matter if anyone else has the same word and the highest total wins. This is a good way to play with children as well since they will all have a chance at scoring and no one will end up with all their words crossed off.

For ties have the tied players compare words among themselves (as in the original Boggle scoring method above) and only the unique words can score. The tied player with the highest score after that wins. You can also skip the tie breaker and have multiple winners allowing all tied players win a prize.

Valid Word Points

3 letters = 1 pt
4 letters = 1 pt
5 letters = 2 pts
6 letters = 3 pts
7 letters = 5 pts
8 letters or more = 11 pts
Spooky or Halloween themed word = 2 times the points for the word length

For example, if someone found the word GRAVE the word would be worth 4 points (5 letters = 2 points, then double for holiday match). In order to receive the doubled holiday theme word points, the group has to agree that the found word is a holiday word (such as BREW for Witch’s BREW).