Scrungo Games Alphabet War Review

DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

Card games are a huge hit in our house, but one with a link to spelling is an extra bonus for any parent, particularly as my youngest tends to struggle with some of the spelling rules.

Alphabet War by Scrungo Games was created in collaboration with the Mike Salcedo YouTube animation series Alphabet Lore, and the playing cards are illustrated with the characters from the series. The packaging is vibrant, shiny and fun so my three kids were eager to give it a try.

It’s a game for 2- 6 players, although my advice would be 2-4 so you aren’t waiting for a turn. Games last between 5-15 minutes which is ideal if you’re travelling in the car, sat at the airport, or just waiting for that Sunday Roast to finish cooking.

Inside the box are the playing cards and an instruction leaflet. The animations on each card are really cute: each giant letter features a unique little face, but you also have the letters written clearly in the corners for reference.

You start with a central word on the table, and the purpose of the game is to get rid of the letter cards in your hand by building or changing a central word. You can add, remove, replace or rearrange letters, and on each turn you make up to three actions. There are also “Punch-uation” and attack cards which make the game more interesting as you can disrupt your enemies (or opponents if you live in a calmer household than mine) or force them to draw addition cards.

I love that you can set your difficulty level by controlling the word length limit; this meant that my youngest still had a fair chance against his older siblings. However we can increase the challenge for him with time meaning that the game does have a relatively long shelf life in that regard.

The game is fast paced as you are constantly having to adapt your approach as other players disrupt your game strategy. Being able to make up to three actions during your turn means that you can really influence play, but you also really need to think and plan. It’s not just great for spelling practice, but you can open up lots of new words and their meanings. My advice is to have a dictionary to hand as there will be arguments over “fake” words or incorrect spellings! My eldest even tried to bring in some German, so set your ground rules is my advice.

After playing a practice game we soon got into the swing of it so it doesn’t take too long for even the youngest kids to get the hang of it.

We really enjoyed this game- the kids wanted to play several rounds before we moved onto something else, and have brought it out several times since. It’s a great option whilst the evening meals cooking after school as you can squeeze a quick game in, it is quite addictive.

The recommended age is 6 plus; any younger and you are going to be limited significantly by word and spelling knowledge so you aren’t going to have a very exciting game. I think it comes down to the children’s ability a bit with this guidance too.

The £9.99 RRP is fair given the quality of the pack and the detail level within the game.

This game would make a great stocking filler for the kids at Christmas, and the price point is an added bonus. It ticks the educational and fun boxes so is a great little Christmas gift.

I would award Alphabet War 4.5 stars out of 5.

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: £9.99

Available to buy from www.amazon.co.uk