298:. It is similar to Boggle in the sense that gameplay is simultaneous, yet players build interlocking puzzles similar to those in Scrabble. Because Bananagrams can be played by players at any (English) reading level, the game is useful for children who are learning to spell, and has been touted as both educational and popular among consumers. An independent psychologist reviewed Bananagrams and expressed her recommendation of Bananagrams as a positive example of creativity stimulation because, perhaps unlike Scrabble, the goal is to play all of one's tiles, which generates a need to configure and reconfigure one's word grid to accept all of the letters.
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reveal the lettered sides. Each player races to create their own word grids by arranging the letters to form words connected in intersecting or interlocking manner (words should not be separate from one another). You may rearrange your grid as many times as you like – the name "Bananagrams" is a play on the word
172:
Nathanson conceived and developed the idea for the game with the help of his family. The name is derived from his claim that it's the "anagram game that will drive you bananas!" Beginning as a family innovation, Bananagrams was made available to the public in
January 2006 at the London Toy Fair. The
209:
The game consists of 144 lettered tiles that are placed face down on the playing surface. This is called the Bunch. The same number of tiles is drawn by each player (between 11 and 21 depending on the number of players), and once a player calls out "Split!", all the players turn over their tiles to
410:
game version offered players the opportunity to customize the game with "Banana Chip" credits. Banana Chips were earned by playing games and by issuing and winning challenges. They could be spent in the virtual store to purchase new tiles and playing boards, and to buy in-game hints and bonuses to
402:
The online version adhered to the same protocol as the tabletop edition, but certain gameplay adjustments and social features were also available. Players could play live games or send challenges to friends, and share completed games with one another. The game also included solitaire modes and
184:
Gameplay involves players arranging letter tiles into a grid of connected words. Two to eight players can participate, but the game can also be played solo. The object of the game is to be the first to complete a word grid after the pool of tiles has been exhausted. The tiles come in a fabric
214:, as a player must often rearrange the words one has already formed in order to allow newly drawn tiles to be placed into their grid. When a player uses up all of their tiles, they call out "Peel!" and each player must draw a new tile from the pool of remaining tiles.
197:
An arranged word grid with a newly drawn tile, "T" (left). In order to fit the "T" in, the "D" at the end of "F O O D" can be moved to another position at which it spells a valid word, yet where "T" would not spell a word, so that "T" can take "D"'s current position
411:
gain an advantage over other players. Multi-tier achievements were also awarded to players in recognition of outstanding skill, and a leaderboard contained information pertaining to other players.
220:
When there are fewer tiles in the Bunch than there are players, the first person to use up all their letters shouts "Bananas" and wins, becoming Top Banana if all of their words are valid.
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If at any time during play a player gets stuck with a tricky letter, the player can announce "Dump!" and exchange any letter for three tiles from the Bunch.
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Bananagrams has won numerous awards for its innovation, popularity among consumers and educational value:
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The
Bananagrams company has expanded with other versions of the classic game. Variations include
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2018 – Bananas for
Bananagrams (Stanford University paper by Saahil Agrawal and David Kwok)
673:"Evaluation by Beth Carroll, PsyD, writing for ToyDirectory Monthly Magazine, October 2006"
303:
750:
430:
Librarian's Guide to Games and Gamers: From
Collection Development to Advisory Services
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with wildcard tiles. There also are
Spanish, French and Hebrew versions of the game.
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403:"Banana Café", where the objective was to beat one's own best time.
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Other tabletop word games that are played without a board include
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Goodridge, Michelle; Rohweder, Matthew J. (15 November 2021).
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2019 – Open Source
Bananagram Online Solver (Multi-language)
325:, a letter-tile game released in 1997, and the 1999 game
762:
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950:
608:"Letter distributions in Bananagrams and other games"
459:"Abraham Nathanson, Bananagrams Inventor, Dies at 80"
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169:, wherein lettered tiles are used to spell words.
8:
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223:The letter distribution is as follows:
796:. Bananagrams-intl.com. Archived from
770:. Bananagrams-intl.com. Archived from
675:. Bananagrams-intl.com. Archived from
649:. Bananagrams-intl.com. Archived from
536:. Bananagrams-intl.com. Archived from
510:. Bananagrams-intl.com. Archived from
484:. Bananagrams-intl.com. Archived from
27:
467:, 9 June 2010. Accessed 12 June 2010.
7:
846:"Bananagrams Official Facebook Page"
341:Game of the Year 2009 by TOTY Awards
870:. Largeanimal.com. 17 November 2008
49:Bananagrams game bag and word tiles
610:. Bananagrammer.com. 13 July 2009.
290:Bananagrams uses elements of both
19:For the computerized version, see
14:
584:. toycrossing.com. Archived from
321:. Bananagrams is also similar to
60:Abraham Nathanson, Rena Nathanson
822:. Parenthood.com. Archived from
34:
914:. Apps.bebo.com. Archived from
399:. It ran from 2008 until 2012.
970:Board games introduced in 2006
1:
725:"About the SYZYGY Board Game"
389:online version of Bananagrams
173:game is similar to the older
230:3: B, C, F, H, M, P, V, W, Y
362:Top Toy of the Year Award,
286:Comparison with other games
125:http://www.bananagrams.com/
70:; 18 years ago
1006:
965:Bananas in popular culture
480:Featured Games and Puzzles
380:
278:with double the tiles and
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534:"Toy News, December 2006"
383:Bananagrams (online game)
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135:
42:
33:
21:Bananagrams (online game)
699:"Syzygy – The Word Game"
848:. Facebook. 11 May 2013
508:"Bananagram Beginnings"
364:Creative Child Magazine
355:Best Toy Bronze Award,
274:for a two-player game,
185:banana-shaped package.
16:2006 tabletop word game
647:"Christmas Toy Review"
395:, in partnership with
270:for younger children,
206:
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161:and Rena Nathanson of
794:"Awards bibliography"
478:"Toys n' Playthings,
435:Bloomsbury Publishing
397:Majesco Entertainment
280:Bananagrams WildTiles
205:
196:
868:"Large Animal Press"
826:on 27 September 2008
369:NAPPA Honors Award,
357:Right Start Magazine
268:My First Bananagrams
774:on 27 December 2009
731:on 10 December 2012
679:on 26 December 2009
562:. boardgamegeek.com
560:"boardgamegeek.com"
540:on 27 December 2009
488:on 27 December 2009
30:
705:on 20 October 2011
653:on 8 December 2009
464:The New York Times
393:Large Animal Games
276:Double Bananagrams
207:
200:
102:Low (tile drawing)
980:Party board games
975:Multiplayer games
892:. largeanimal.com
800:on 10 August 2009
582:"toycrossing.com"
514:on 27 August 2009
457:Grimes, William.
391:was developed by
159:Abraham Nathanson
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768:"Toy News, 2006"
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272:Bananagrams Duel
227:2: J, K, Q, X, Z
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918:on 24 July 2011
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890:"Facebook Game"
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588:on 2 April 2009
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381:Main article:
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482:, April 2006"
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131:Related games
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920:. Retrieved
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894:. Retrieved
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828:. Retrieved
824:the original
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802:. Retrieved
798:the original
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772:the original
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729:the original
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681:. Retrieved
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629:. Retrieved
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590:. Retrieved
586:the original
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486:the original
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344:Gold Award,
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327:Double Quick
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167:Rhode Island
157:invented by
149:
148:
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25:
912:"Bebo Game"
626:Bananagrams
150:Bananagrams
115:Anagramming
94:1–2 minutes
65:Publication
29:Bananagrams
985:Word games
959:Categories
631:1 December
415:References
312:Perquackey
262:Variations
239:6: D, S, U
91:Setup time
922:19 August
896:19 August
874:19 August
830:19 August
804:19 August
778:19 August
683:19 August
657:19 August
592:19 August
566:19 August
544:19 August
518:19 August
492:19 August
359:(UK 2006)
155:word game
56:Designers
735:15 March
709:15 March
318:Quiddler
304:Anagrams
296:Scrabble
212:anagrams
198:(right).
189:Gameplay
179:Take Two
177:variant
175:Scrabble
163:Cranston
137:Scrabble
111:Spelling
245:9: T, R
121:Website
83:Players
73: (
852:11 May
441:
408:online
333:Awards
323:Syzygy
308:Dabble
292:Boggle
107:Skills
99:Chance
352:2006)
257:18: E
254:13: A
251:12: I
248:11: O
153:is a
924:2009
898:2009
876:2009
854:2015
832:2009
806:2009
780:2009
737:2012
711:2012
685:2009
659:2009
633:2023
594:2009
568:2009
546:2009
520:2009
494:2009
439:ISBN
406:The
366:2007
315:and
294:and
242:8: N
236:5: L
233:4: G
75:2006
68:2006
387:An
86:2–8
961::
759:^
624:.
461:,
437:.
433:.
350:UK
329:.
310:,
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181:.
165:,
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348:(
77:)
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
