Spelling Bee

Dot Vine's library has 6 overdue books outstanding. Find them, and destroy anything in your path. But not with violence -- with words! Each encounter is a tiny anagram contest where you're dealt 7 letters and you have to find a word among them.

Controls:

• Gamepad: Dpad, South, West
• Arrows, Z, X
• WASD, Space, Comma

Overview of rules in battle:

• Words of length 5 and greater get a bonus: 5=>5, 6=>10, 7=>50
• Multipliers are applied before the length bonus.
• Blanks are not worth anything but do contribute to length bonuses.
• Words not in the dictionary damage you instead of the opponent, bonuses and all.
• We use the NASPA Word List, 2023 edition. Most monsters use an abbreviated version with unusual words removed.
• You may fold and get a fresh hand, with no penalty except losing the turn.
• Words must be at least two letters. "A" and "I" don't count as words.
• Monsters with a charge meter will always fold if you submit before charging begins.
• Some monsters have special rules.

WARNING: Spoilers! Open to reveal.

Special Battle Rules

• Coyote: Normal scoring is suspended and only length bonuses matter.
• Eyeball: Words with I have no effect, and words with U (but not I) get a 10-point bonus.
• Evil Twin: She always has exactly the same hand as you.
• Rabbit: You lose a turn if his charge meter fills.
• Beehive: It will only play the letter B, in increasing length.
• Scholar: Uses the full dictionary, and can play 7-letter words.
• Disemvoweller: All AEIOU are removed from the letter bag.
• Queen: Plays like any other monster, except the word that finishes her must contain a Q.
• Sixclops: Only 6-letter words have any effect.

Tips

• Find a list of 2-letter words, they're very helpful.
• Striking before the opponent is ready is a great way to survive long-term.
• Beehive and Scholar don't have a clock, so no sense hurrying against them.
• All text visible in the game, except proper nouns in the credits, are legal words for play.
• Against the Coyote, you can play an invalid 4-letter word just to discard the tiles. It won't hurt you, since no length bonus.
• It usually doesn't make sense to extend a 3-letter word into 4, eg by adding S. Better to save that S for when it can cause a length bonus.
• Get rid of your high-point letters when fighting Evil Twin, otherwise she might play them again.
• You can buy your way out of any battle. Earn money somewhere and arm yourself with erasers, triplers, and bug spray.

Side Quests

• Find buried treasure: Laboratory
• 60-point word: Laboratory
• Deliver the flower: Garden
• Black Belt Challenge: Gym
• Turn things off: Library

NASPA Word List 2023 Edition © NASPA 2023. The copy included in this app is licensed for personal use. You may not use it for any commercial purposes.

The copy of NWL 2023 embedded in Spelling Bee is slightly modified:

• Some profanities (F, S, B) are removed. A few others (C, K, N) were already absent.
• All words longer than 7 letters are removed; they aren't reachable in Spelling Bee.
• One word, PIZZAZZ, is actually not reachable so was removed.

Souce code: https://github.com/aksommerville/spellingbee
Requires Egg: https://github.com/aksommerville/egg