Game Review: Lexogon and Lexogon One

Tippecanoe, LLC, $29.95
Tippecanoe, LLC, $27.95

Lexogon is a unique, new word game we recently discovered. The name is a combination of “lexicon” meaning “vocabulary” and “octagon”, the shape of the game’s playing area. The concept is quite simple: Roll the die and travel around the board while trying to score a credit in each of the color categories. The winner is the first person to complete all the categories.

“That’s nice,” you say, “but how do you score these credits and what makes the color categories different?” Well, I’m glad you asked! Each color space requires that you draw a clue card, and within 90 seconds come up with a word using the three letters corresponding to that color on the clue card - if you don’t, the other players can capture the credit.

But wait, there’s more! Each color also has a rule for how the letters must occur in the word. Some rules are simple - the first clue letter must be the first letter of the word; the last clue letter must be the last letter of the word; or the first clue letter must be the second letter of the word. Other rules are a bit more difficult - the word must begin with the first clue letter and end with the last; the first and second clue letters must be adjacent; the first clue letter must be the first letter in the word, and no clue letter may be adjacent to another; or, finally, the letters must all be adjacent, but the word may not begin with the first clue letter nor end with the third.

The game itself is well made and well thought out from the slick, high-quality game board and cards, metal playing pieces, score pads and included pencils. They even include two timers (the old hourglass variety) so you can keep the game moving instead of having to wait for the sand to finish falling on a single timer if someone answers the question with time to spare. Even the box is cleverly designed to hold all of the components. If you’ve read some of my other reviews, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for clever storage in the box – there’s nothing worse than pulling a game off the shelf only to find the contents scrambled because the box wasn’t well designed. (Okay, there are actually quite a few things that are worse, but you get the idea.) Throw in some random event cards to even things out if you have mixed skill/vocabulary levels - or not if you want the game to be purely skill based - and you have a game that’s fun, competitive, and a good brain workout.

If Lexogon sounds a bit too difficult for your tastes, there’s also Lexogon One, which is designed for a slightly younger audience. The main difference is that the clues are only two letters, and the color rules are slightly different. For us, we like Lexogon better, and even our eight year old enjoys the play - and surprises us often when he comes up with a great answer. One of the things we like best about this game is that everyone is playing all the time - even when it’s not your turn, you’re still playing.

It’s not often you find a game that’s this fun and educational - Lexogon is a great addition to the family game shelf or the classroom.