Gamehelpcollect

2026-06-04T18:42:30Z

PenguinKnit: /* Collect - Animal Alliance */ Updated to the Octopus card explanations to be correct.

= '''Collect - Animal Alliance''' =
2-5 players
64 cards - 8 of each animal.
Shuffle the cards and split into two decks, put within reach.
This game can be played as a team, but each player will form their own row.

==== '''Gameplay:''' ====
Take a card from either deck and place it in your row.

====== '''Create an Animal Alliance to win''' ======
Four adjacent cards of the same animal species.

or, with an Octopus card, three different pairs of animals. Cards in a pair need to be adjacent but each pair does not need to be adjacent.

or, with a lion card, 7 cards of different animal species.

====== '''Card Special Abilities''' ======
Chameleon - Acts as Wild card to be used as any animal towards the winning condition. But if you have two chameleons in your row, they must both retreat to the bottom of a deck.

Crab - Choose a card (in your line up or your competitors line) and move it however many spaces. This will help (or hinder) achieving the four-adjacent card win condition.

Hermit crab - If you have a crab or chameleon in your row, when drawn, you can take a second turn.

Crocodile - Choose a card from another player's row and return it to the bottom of either deck.

Monkey - Swap your new monkey card for another player's card.

Parrot - Choose a deck and guess which animal will be drawn from it next. If you're correct, it's yours.

Lion - Winning condition, 7 different animals.

Octopus - Winning condition, 3 different pairs of animals. Cards in a pair need to be adjacent but each pair do not need to be adjacent.

====== '''Team Play''' ======
You're free to help your teammate achieve the winning condition and you can both work together to stop the other team achieving an animal alliance first.

====== '''Scoring''' ======
Each round, the winning player will receive a Half Crown. Achieve 2 Half Crowns to win the match. If there are no Half Crowns remaining, the winning player receives the Full Crown and the immediate win.

Gamehelplettertycoon

2026-06-02T18:19:46Z

PenguinKnit: /* NWL 2018 */ updated link

[[Category:Card games]]

== Game play ==

* Build words using letter cards to earn money and stock.
* Use money to buy letter patents. Patents earn bonus royalties when their letter is used. Some patents grant additional abilities.
* The final round is triggered when one player's patents sum to at least the required total for the table size.
* Remaining players in the round get a final turn so all have had an equal number of turns.
* At the end of that round, the player with the highest combined value of patents, money, and stock wins!
** If there is a tie, the player with the highest value of patents wins!

== Components ==

==== Letter "Factory" Cards ====

* One of 102 cards each with a letter.
* Some letters are more common than others. (''See the letter frequency game card'')

==== Player Hand ====

* Each player has a hand of 7 letter cards.
* Players always draw back to 7 at the end of their turn to replace any cards they have played or discarded.

==== Community Pool ====

* A shared, face-up set of 3 letter cards available for use by any player.
* These are also replaced at the end of each turn.

==== Money (or Coins) ====

* Earned by playing words, or through patent royalties.
* Used to buy patents.
* Winning or losing challenges can also earn or cost money.

==== Stock ====

* Earned by playing longer words. Grants points at the end of the game, but cannot be spent.

==== Letter Patents ====

* Each letter has one patent.
* Patents may be purchased with money; costs range from $2 to $10.

==== Royalties ====

* The owner of a letter patent earns $1 for each matching letter played by another player. This money comes from the bank, not the player making the word.
* Players don't earn royalties on their own words, or for special letters generated by patent abilities.

== Player Turn ==

* On your turn, you may build a word using letter cards from your hand or from the community pool.
* Each word must contain at least one card from your hand and be at least 3 letters long.

* If your word is not '''[[#Challenges|challenged]]''' successfully, you earn money and stock depending on its length.
* Some '''[[#Patents|patent]]''' or '''[[#Letters|letter]]''' abilities may increase earnings.

* Other players earn '''[[#Royalties|royalties]]''' for the patents they own.

* Then, you may buy a patent.
* You many only buy one patent per turn, and its letter must match a letter in the word(s) you just played.
* You must also have enough money to purchase the patent.
* Each patent can only be owned by one player
* Once a patent has been purchased, it cannot be purchased by another player.

* The community pool is refilled, and then you may choose to discard any number of the cards in your hand.
* Finally, your hand is refilled to 7 cards.

== Special Abilities ==

=== Patents ===

Patent abilities may be used at most once per turn.

[[File:Letter-Tycoon Special Patents.jpg|Special patent abilities visual reference]]

Some patents grant special abilities:

==== B Patent Ability ====

* Earn double if your word begins and ends in vowels.
* Both money and stock are doubled.

==== J Patent Ability ====

* Earn double if vowels are at least half of your word.
* Both money and stock are doubled.

==== K Patent Ability ====

* Earn double if your word has only one vowel.
* Both money and stock are doubled.</div>

==== Q Patent Ability ====

* You may replace a card to start your turn.
* You may discard and draw before playing words.

==== V Patent Ability ====

* You may build two words. Each word earns money and stock individually.
* Other patent abilities may be applied to one word or the other, not both.
* Each word must contain at least one card from your hand and be at least 3 letters long.

==== X Patent Ability ====

* You may use one letter card twice.
*: ''That is, you may duplicate a letter.''
* You must use at least 3 real (not duplicated or generated) letter cards total.
** If playing two words with the ‘V’ patent ability, a letter from the first word may be duplicated in the second.
** Other players do not earn additional royalties on the second copy of this duplicated letter.

==== Z Patent Ability ====

* You may add an ‘S’ to the end of your word.
* This must form an acceptable word.
* You may not purchase the ‘S’ patent without using a real ‘S’ letter card.
* Other players do not earn royalties on this generated ‘S’.

=== Letters ===

Some letters also have special abilities:

==== Q Letter Ability ====

* Words with ‘Q’ earn double (both money and stock).
* This ability is independent of the ‘Q’ patent ability.

==== Y Letter Ability ====

* Player decides whether each ‘Y’ is treated as a consonant or a vowel for patent abilities.

== Challenges ==

==== Player Challenges ====

* In the default rules, players may challenge other player's words.
* If the challenged word(s) are not in the dictionary, the challenge succeeds and the active player takes back their cards, loses the rest of their turn, and must discard a card as a penalty.
* If the word(s) are in the dictionary, the challenge fails and the challenger must pay the active player $1.
** If the challenger has no money, the active player takes $1 from the bank.

==== Automatic Challenges ====

This version implements a challenge variant to smooth online play.
* In the automatic challenge variant, players may not challenge.
* Instead, every play is automatically challenged by the system.
* If the word(s) are in the dictionary, play proceeds.
* If the word(s) are not in the dictionary, the player may be allowed to retry
** ''Depending on the variant configuration; default is 3.''
** If they run out of retries, they take back their cards, lose the rest of their turn, and must discard a card as penalty.

== Word Scoring ==

{|style="width:auto; background-color:#f8f9fa; color:#222; margin:1em 0; border:1px solid #a2a9b1; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right;"
!style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color:#eaecf0; text-align:center;"|Word Length
!style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color:#eaecf0; text-align:center;"|Money
!style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color:#eaecf0; text-align:center;"|Stock
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|3 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$1
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|0
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|4 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$2
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|0
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|5 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$3
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|0
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|6 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$4
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|1
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|7 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$6
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|1
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|8 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$6
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|2
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|9 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$6
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|3
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|10 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$6
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|4
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|11 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$6
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|5
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|12 letters
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$6
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|6
|}

==End-of-Game Trigger==

{|style="width:auto; background-color:#f8f9fa; color:#222; margin:1em 0; border:1px solid #a2a9b1; border-collapse:collapse; text-align:right;"
!style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color:#eaecf0; text-align:center;"|Players
!style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color:#eaecf0; text-align:center;"|A Player's Patents' Value
!style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em; background-color:#eaecf0; text-align:center;"|Minimum Number of Patents
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|2
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$45
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|6
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|3
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$34
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|5
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|4
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$26
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|3
|-
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|5
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|$21
|style="border: 1px solid #a2a9b1; padding: 0.2em 0.4em;"|3
|}

== Dictionaries ==

* Note that this game is designed to be played with English (American or British) words.
* Playing words in other languages isn't supported by the game design.

Two dictionaries may be used:

==== NWL 2018 ====

* [https://scrabbleplayers.org/w/NWL2018 North American Scrabble Players Association Word List 2018]
** ''This is the default''

==== CWL 2019 ====

* [https://scrabbleplayers.org/w/SOWPODS Collins Scrabble Words 2019 (formerly SOWPODS)]
** ''This contains obscure words''

Gamehelpcollect

2026-06-01T18:34:46Z

PenguinKnit: /* Scoring */ Updated "line" to be "row", edited text for clarity and grammar. Matched Half Crown terminology to the game instructions.

= '''Collect - Animal Alliance''' =
2-5 players
68 cards - 8 of each animal.
Shuffle the cards and split into two decks, put within reach.
This game can be played as a team, but each player will form their own row.

==== '''Gameplay:''' ====
Take a card from either deck and place it in your row.

====== '''Create an Animal Alliance to win''' ======
Four adjacent cards of the same animal species.

or, with an Octopus card, three different pairs of animals. Cards in each pair do not need to be connected.

or, with a lion card, 7 cards of different animal species.

====== '''Card Special Abilities''' ======
Chameleon - Acts as Wild card to be used as any animal towards the winning condition. But if you have two chameleons in your row, they must both retreat to the bottom of a deck.

Crab - Choose a card (in your line up or your competitors line) and move it however many spaces. This will help (or hinder) achieving the four-adjacent card win condition.

Hermit crab - If you have a crab or chameleon in your row, when drawn, you can take a second turn.

Crocodile - Choose a card from another player's row and return it to the bottom of either deck.

Monkey - Swap your new monkey card for another player's card.

Parrot - Choose a deck and guess which animal will be drawn from it next. If you're correct, it's yours.

Lion - Winning condition, 7 different animals.

Octopus - Winning condition, 3 different pairs of animals. Cards in each pair do not need to be connected.

====== '''Team Play''' ======
You're free to help your teammate achieve the winning condition and you can both work together to stop the other team achieving an animal alliance first.

====== '''Scoring''' ======
Each round, the winning player will receive a Half Crown. Achieve 2 Half Crowns to win the match. If there are no half crowns left, the winning player receives the Full Crown and the immediate win.

Board Game Arena - User contributions [en]

Gamehelpcollect

Gamehelplettertycoon

Gamehelpcollect