Boggle, the addictive word puzzle game, is popular to play at parties. But what happens when you don’t have a group of people to play with? Well, thanks to the wonders of the internet, you never have to quit playing Boggle. A number of websites now offer Boggle online for free.
How does Boggle online work?
Just like in the offline version, a 4×4 tray is filled with sixteen different lettered cubes. Before each round, a player shakes the tray in order to mix up these letters.
Then, players must make words out of the letters that appear face-up on the board. To do this, you can only choose cubes that are next to each other, whether they’re vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. In Boggle online, all words must be at least three letters long.
The scoring system is based only on the length of the word. Three and four letter words are awarded one point, five-letter words are worth two points, six-letter words are worth three points, seven-letter words are worth five points, and anything greater than eight letters is worth eleven. At the end of each round, the person with the most points is declared the winner.
Furthermore, no two players can get points for the same word. Once the three-minute round of Boggle online is over, players must reveal their word sheets to the other players. If two players do have the same word, neither of them gets points. This forces players to be original in order to win the game.
How is Boggle online different than the regular version?
There are several key differences between Boggle online and the standard version, each of which is designed to improve the gaming experience. For example, players are sometimes able to choose to a 5×5 square instead of the regular 4×4 square.
You may also be able to play Boggle online under an alternative rule system, called Periodic Boundary Conditions (PBC). Under these rules, players can extend words beyond the edge of the grid by switching over to the opposite side. Basically, this expands the playing area of the standard board, allowing players to make a greater number of words and combinations.
Sometimes, you may be able to find tournaments and clubs in which you can play Boggle online. Obviously, the game is not nearly as widespread as Scrabble, which means that finding tournaments in your local area may be difficult. This is where Boggle online truly outshines its offline counterpart: players can now join a tournament with people from all over the world, at any time of day. So, if you wake up in the middle of the night and want to play a Boggle online tournament, you can easily do that.
Longest possible words in Boggle online
Under the standard 4×4 version of Boggle, the longest possible words were seventeen letters long (due to the ‘q’ and the ‘u’ being included on the same cube). Now, with Boggle online, players can even go beyond that thanks to the extended playing area and PBC rules.
In that sense, there are far fewer limits in Boggle online than there are with the regular version: players are free to do what they want. For that reason, they’re often rewarded with larger scores and, ultimately, a better gaming experience.