Spatido Bunthax

Spatido Bunthax is a game that can be played competitively, to generate funny / unique names or simply for amusement. The game was indeed used for the first time to name itself. The competitive variation takes some inspiration from the awesome game Absolute Balderdash, along with some obscure online flash based multi-player phrase creating game that I can't remember the name of.


Requirements:

• A board game with letter tiles and trays (we use UpWords, though Scrabble or similar will suffice)
• At least 2 players

Instructions (Non-competitive play):

1. Separate the letter tiles from the game into a pile of vowels and a pile of consonants, turning all the tiles face down. Scramble each pile to remove any temptation to pick out desirable letters.
2. Each player takes one letter tile at a time from either pile (of their choice), and places it in their tray. The first letter is simply placed in the tray (out of sight of the other players of course), and subsequent letters are added to either the front or the end of the word. There is no need to take turns in this form of the game, each player can play at their own pace.
3. Once seven letters have been placed on a tray, that word is complete, and can be announced / displayed to the other players. Feel free to start again if the word is not very funny or memorable.

     Tip: Try to pick vowels and consonants with roughly even frequency. Ideally, words should be easy to pronounce. Words that sound vaguely like real words, but with some unexpected twist, are typically very funny.

Competitive play
Additional requirements:

• Timer
• Pens and paper
• Paper crown entitled "Spatido"
• Paper dunce cap entitled "Bunthax"
• At least 4 players

This form of the game has not been thoroughly tested. Feel free to tweak these rules as you see fit!

1. At the start of the game, all players draw a letter. The player with the letter closest to the start of the alphabet becomes "Spatido" and wears the crown. "Spatido" then designates another player to be "Bunthax", who must then wear the dunce cap.
2. Create words as per previous instructions, however there is a now a time limit for creating each word (typically one minute, though you can adjust as you see fit).
3. Upon creating a word, it should be written down, along with a definition.
4. After all players have written down their words and definitions, they are passed to "Bunthax". "Bunthax" reads them out in turn, and players vote for their favourite word / definition pairs. Votes are cast by secret ballot; players write down their votes and pass them to "Bunthax", who collects them (along with his or her own vote too) to be tallied up. Votes can be anonymous if desired, but players cannot vote for their own words.
5. Scoring takes place based on the votes cast. For each vote a player's word received, they are awarded 1 point. The player with the most votes received wins the round and is awarded a bonus 3 points. Players who voted for the winning word also receive 1 point. The winner of the round becomes the new "Spatido".
6. The player in last place on the scoreboard is now awarded the "Bunthax" role and dunce cap. If several players are in last place, "Spatido" can choose who amongst them becomes "Bunthax". A player can never simultaneously be both "Spatido" and "Bunthax" - if they are the winner of the round, they are not considered for the purposes of selecting a "Bunthax" player.
7. Players must always refer to "Spatido" by the title "Spatido", at the cost of 1 point for every time they fail to do so.
8. "Bunthax" must not speak unless spoken to. If desperate, they may flail their arms about or similar in an effort to have someone address them. Breaking this rule costs "Bunthax" 1 point per violation.
9. The game ends when a player reaches a set score limit, e.g. 50 or 100 points.

Super Words
These are words or parts of words that we have created while playing Spatido Bunthax, and thus or otherwise have special significance. If a player manages to include them within a word they create during the game, they are awarded bonus points (and sometimes powers). Feel free to create your own!

• NIC - 1 point (Co-author of this blog and pioneering inventor of the word Bunthax)
• LISA - 3 points (Co-author of this blog and legendary creator of the word Spatido)
• OTHFO - 5 points (An old weird uncle you get trapped in conversations with.)
• UMJAMU - 12 points (Son of Othfo, this is your cousin Umjamu who cannot multiply by 12.)
• SPATIDO - Player is awarded 25 points and is immediately and permanently crowned "Spatido", except in the exceedingly unlikely case a further player manages to create this word. (The King of Spatido Bunthax.)
• BUNTHAX - Player is awarded 25 points and is immune from ever becoming "Bunthax" again. No further players may make this word. (The lowly servant of Spatido. No-one wants to be Bunthax.)

We invite you to play this game and leave comments with funny words or partial words you have created. We'll pick out the best ones and add them to the super words. Include your definition too, and if you're feeling creative, a special effect / bonus power for the fortunate few who can manage to recreate your word!