Our game of the day is Literati Challenge, by Discovery Bay Games. I’m generally not a fan of word games — Boggle, Balderdash and the like are a good way to ruin my evening!
But, Literati Challenge piqued my interest (for, among other things, the opportunity to demonstrate proper usage of words like “piqued”.) In this game, all the players in a round are assigned a series of
words which they must use in writing a few-sentence-long story. The words are described as “SAT-level”, which I’d say is pretty accurate. They’re certainly not impossibly difficult, but it helps to play with teenagers or adults on a similar level of language skills.
The players are given less than a minute to write their stories, so it’s a big advantage to be able to write quickly. As the five words are revealed, you have to think fast to include as many of them as
possible, scoring points for each word you apply correctly. (And bonuses if you use them all!)
Of course, the caveat is that if you mis-use words in the wrong context, other players can challenge you and you have to defend your knowledge of the word against its proper definition. Last-minute
attempts to use extra-hard words caused much hilarity!
As one who loves to read (as I do) and enjoys a healthy vocabulary, this game was lots of fun. We played it as a family game with a variety of skill levels (ages 13 to fifty-something), and discovered that it takes a lot of creativity — and, at times, bluffing skills — to come out ahead. I’m not a big fan of games as a general rule but games that involve story-telling get a big thumbs up from me!
Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.
We have one copy of Literati Challenge to give away (U.S. addresses only). Leave a comment on this post if you’d like to be eligible to win.
Click on the banner above to enter our other Summer Fun Giveaways. All winners will be announced on June 11.
My daughter would love this game!
I love games, this sounds fun. Thanks for the chance! 🙂
Please enter me in this great contest thanks
I absolutely love word/language games as languages are one of my greatest passions. This game sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for reviewing it and giving us a chance to win! 🙂
Word games are the best! I would love this! Plus, I am a pretty good bluffer…LOL…not high poker stakes, but still pretty good! Thanks!
sherri419 at gmail dot com
Sounds like a really fun game…. I like games
My best friend would LOVE this game! Thanks for the chance to win!
Please include me in your giveaway.
Thanks
carlene
iluvreading(at)verizon.net
we love word type games here, boggle scrabble our favs so far
I think this might be a great win Hope so anyway.
thanks for another great giveaway and chance to win.
I would love to win. Literati is one of my favorite games
This would be a great game for my teenage girls. Please count me in to win.
This looks like a good one!
Ok I hate board games but I think I’d like this one. My son ADORES board games, and this might be one I’d be willing to play! I hope I win 🙂
I love literati! I used to play it on Yahoo games all the time. I love word games!
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This looks like fun. Thanks for the great giveaway!
I’d love to win this it looks like a fun game.
This looks like fun! Thanks for hte great giveaway!
I would love the chance to win, thanks.
This would be great for my book loving family!
Thanks for the entry! It would be nice to have.
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Both of my teens have amazing vocabularies–not just proud momma saying so, their teachers do too!!! And any fun way to prepare for the SAT is great. So count me in. Thanks.
This sounds like a great ACT/SAT prep game!
I would love to try it!
My mother and I love word games. Thanks for the chance to win.
We are word nerds at our house! A perfect prize for our family 🙂
enter me
i really hope i win this!
Thanks for a great giveaway! -ChantelleSabino at mac dot com
This would be perfect for game night. Thanks 🙂
I’d love to win this – looks great for homeschooling!
Great prize, make me a winner!
I would love to play this game. I love playing word games online.
This makes me actually want to host a games party at my house. I love words and writing!
I love word games and want to try this one.Thanks!
I would love to play this with my mother!
This sounds fun!! My family would love to challenge eachother with this game.
I love games so this is so for me.
madamerkf at aol dot com
Almost took this entry as a challenge, then decided to save my energies for (hopefully) our first real game. Odd timing — I was just discussing with my teenager a day or two ago about how people at different grade levels have different sizes of vocabularies — and the size of your vocabulary correlates directly with your income, usually… We started the conversation talking about “extrapolate” versus “interpolate”, and it went downhill from there (in HIS viewpoint)!
My husband is only slightly weird — he reminisces about evenings sitting around the farmhouse as a kid, with his six siblings, taking turns blindly picking dictionary words and then having to expound on word origin, type, usage, the whole etymology thing… So this game would probably benefit most of us, one way or another — like living in a one-room schoolhouse!
Word games are so much fun at our house. We like to challenge our kids with vocabulary.
I love collecting words! Word games are so much fun as they let you challenge yourself and I like the way my children also like to collect words.
Would love to win this!
Thanks for the chance!
Hey. I’m glad you guys have this giveaway otherwise I never would have found this website. Love it.
This would be great. I love word games. Thanks!
I would love to win!
This is so completely up my alley!
Thanks for the GREAT giveaway
please count me in 🙂
I would love to win this game. It sounds great.