Robert Fraser
DUOWORD® is a registered Trademark Classes 9 and 28 in Australia. © Copyright 1997-2014 all rights reserved.
This is an example of DUOWORD® being played by a single player (solo challenge). The game begins
with the letter rack being populated with 14 letters and the player has the option to exchange one letter
before they start their turn. The aim is to score as many points as possible from the 112 letters that are
all worth 1 point. The highest recorded solo score is 1668. 575 is a good score for beginners.
In a two player game the opponent would also have 14 letters to start planning their turn.
The player exchanges the letter E prior to starting the turn. A turn consists of playing two words. The
letters can be moved around on the rack to build potential words. The idea is to score as many points as
possible by covering the bonuses and generally avoiding penalties. Sometimes covering a penalty can
be strategically beneficial as you will see later. The letters are worth 1 point and you score by the length
of your words and apply any bonus/penalties that are covered.
The word DUCKLING ( 8 letters long) is able to be played as the LEAD WORD going down from the
START HERE position covering a 4 X BONUS, earning 32 points.
DUCKLING is played as the LEAD WORD. 8 letters covering 4 X BONUS = 32 points.
DUCKLING showing score of 32 points.
The DUOWORD or second word played is HIND which covers a 4 X BONUS and scores 16 points. The
player has scored 48 points from the opening turn and used 11 letters. The player will refill their rack at
the end of the turn.
In a game against an opponent the next player would now play their turn.
The player can now exchange a letter before starting the next turn and decides to exchange a U.
Another 8 letter word is formed being RAMPAGED which covers the 6 X BONUS and scores 48 points.
The DUOWORD (second word) of the turn must be played with the remaining letters. The score has
advanced to 96 points after RAMPAGED was added.
The DUOWORD (second word) in this turn covers an EXTRA WORD BONUS which means the player
will have their rack refilled to 14 letters and play a third word in this turn.
EXTRA WORD is a more important strategic bonus in the two player game and not so valuable in the
solo challenge.
The rack refills for the player to play the EXTRA WORD.
Another 8 letter word CREATION is formed and played to cover the 4 X BONUS scoring 32 points. In the
second turn of this game the player has scored 85 points and used 18 letters!
If this was being played as a two player contest player 1 would be on 48 and player 2 on 85.
However this is being played as a solo game which provides an enjoyable challenge to try and set your
own highest score.
The bonus lights up and the score is added. After two turns there are already three words that are
8 letters long on the board. The game spreads quickly and long words are possible on a regular basis.
The rack refills for the player to commence the third turn of this solo challenge. The letter exchange
option is able to be used at the start of each turn.
The LEAD WORD played in this turn is NATIVE which scores a 6X BONUS earning 36 points.
The player elects to cover an EXTRA WORD BONUS to get more letters to play a third word. EXTRA
WORD BONUS is very valuable and important when playing against an opponent.
TWO is played earning just 3 points but giving the player a full rack of 14 letters to play an
EXTRA WORD.
The player plays EASE as the EXTRA WORD covering a 5X BONUS and earning 20 points. This sets up
a high scoring strategy that exists on the top and bottom rows. It is possible to score 168 points on those
two rows. This will be demonstrated later. During this turn the player used 10 letters and scored 59
points.
The rack is again refilled for the start of the fourth turn of this game. The word CRIME is about to be
played and you can see how much the game has spread after 3 turns. CRIME will score 20 points and
ED is an ADD WORD scoring 2 points.
The DUOWORD of this turn is PIANO which will score a 5X BONUS and earn 25 points. This turn saw 9
letters being used and 47 points added.
The player is struggling with poor letters and can only play THICK as the LEAD WORD but covers
EXTRA WORD which replenishes the rack for two more words to be played in this turn. This bonus is
very valuable when playing an opponent if poor letters are allocated. It is still possible to play a good
turn by scoring EXTRA WORD BONUS.
The player then adds EST to THICK and scores 40 points building another 8 letter long word covering
the 5 X BONUS.
To complete the turn the player adds TOUGH scoring another 20 points. So in this TURN the player
scored THICK for 5 points THICKEST for 40 points and TOUGH for 20 points earning 65 points using 11
letters.
As this game is being played as a solo challenge the idea is to maximize the board scoring potential with
the 112 letters available. The LEAD WORD played is OAK scoring a dismal 3 points. There is a bigger
purpose for this that will be revealed later. In a contest against an opponent this would not be a
strategically sound move.
This move demonstrates setting up the strategy for scoring 168 points on the top row. The word TO
covers the HALF WORD PENALTY and will only score 1 point. It wipes out the penalty meaning a 7
letter word can score 7 x 6 x 4 = 168. In this turn the player used 3 letters and scored 4 points.
However the player has set up a big scoring strategy on the top row and will now need to capitalize.
Another 8 letter word is played being SNUGGLED which gets EXTRA WORD and scores only 8 points
but also secures fresh letters for two more words to be played in this turn.
SLOWLY is played to score a 5X BONUS and another 30 points.
GRAB is played to complete the turn. The player played SNUGGLED for 8 points, SLOWLY for 30 points
and GRAB for 16 points totaling 54 points from 14 letters used.
The new rack of letters is dealt for the next turn to start. The player sees the potential to place the
SMPED in the top row to make STOMPED. This is the high scoring strategy mentioned earlier.
The high scoring strategy on the top row implemented with the word STOMPED. This scores 168 points.
The score advances from 362 to 530 points. The 6 X BONUS and 4X BONUS light up and multiply the
points.
The strategy demonstrated on the top row is being repeated again on the bottom row. Here the player
covers the HALF WORD PENALTY with END and scores 2 points (rounding up). The player knows they
can play RESENDS to score maximum points once the PENALTY is eliminated
Here it is. The big point scoring strategy with another 168 points for RESENDS.
The next move starts with SCRUB getting played for 30 points.
You can see how many letters are left in the supply by clicking on REMAINING TILES icon.
The closing stages with nearly all bonuses covered. TIDYING is a 7 letter word being played for only 7
points. This turn the player scored SCRUB for 30 and TIDYING for 7 =37 points from 10 letters.
All point scoring multiple bonuses are now covered with OUTER covering the last bonus point square. 5
letter word covering 6X BONUS earns 30 points.
FEZ covers EXTRA WORD BONUS for 3 points.
Closing stages now and HUG is played for 3 points.
HA and HE to nearly finish the game.
POOR is the final word played and the game is over. Player gets a bonus 20 points for using all the letters.
Looking at the end result we can see 5 words on the board that are 8 letters long being : DUCKLING,
RAMPAGED,CREATION,THICKEST and SNUGGLED with 3 words that are 7 letters long being : STOMPED,
RESENDS and TIDYING. This is a unique feature that DUOWORD® offers to word game fans. The satisfaction
of being able to make and play long words regularly doesn’t occur in too many other word games on the planet.
Total for the game is 803 points. Not a bad score. However it is possible to get over 1600 believe it or not
with the highest ever solo score being 1668 points.
The board game version.