Bananagrams

I have always been a cross wordlover so when I saw and then read the instructions to Bananagrams I knew we had to try it out! Bananagrams is pretty easy to play! All players race against each other to build crossword grids and use all their letter tiles. There’s no turn-taking; it all happens at once and it’s a race to the finish.

No matter how great you are at word games, or how many you have beat- Bananagrams is going to drive you absolutely bananas!

I love that it requires no pencil, paper or board so it can be played at any second. Plus it comes in a small portable banana shaped pouch. It says that it is for ages 7 and up, but I think that is a bit low to start (unless your 7 year old is a spelling bee champ!)

Bananagrams is also available online as a free Facebook Application and on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch so you can literally play Bananagrams all the time!

Game play is pretty easy. You place all 144 tiles face down in the center of the table. and then everyone takes tiles from the pile and puts them in front of them, face-down. (The number of tiles you take depends on the number of people playing.) Once everyone’s ready, any player can start the game by saying “SPLIT!” Everybody then turns their tiles face up and starts forming their own crossword collections of intersecting and connecting words. When a player successfully uses all their letters in a crossword, he or she says “PEEL!” and takes a tile from the bunch. When this happens, everybody has to take a tile and add it to their collection of letters. At any time a player can return a troublesome letter back to the bunch. The catch is that they must take three letters in return. The player declares this by saying “DUMP!”. This doesn’t affect any of the other players.

Play continues until there are fewer tiles in the bunch than there are players. At that point, the first player with no remaining letters shouts “BANANAS!” and is the winner! Your words can be horizontal or vertical, going from left to right or top to bottom and at any time you an tear down your entire grid and start over!

We have a blast playing Bananagrams! You definitely have to like word games to enjoy it, but just because your normally good at word games does not necessarily mean that you will win Bananagrams!

Buy It: You can buy Bananagrams at Amazon for 13.49!

Comments

  1. This definitely looks like something we will have to add to our game selection! It looks like a fun but challenging game. I think my students might like this game as well. Thank you for the review!

  2. So much fun! I can imagine playing this with my family and it would be a riot! 😀

  3. Jessie C. says

    I like APPLETTERS game, looks so fun.

  4. Diane K. Brimmer says

    I just love the site with all the different fruit displays. I was especially impressed to find they have won 12 different awards since they began in 2006.

  5. I learned that you can get replacement tiles mailed to you!

  6. Well, first, I like the website! It’s adorable! I also LOVE that everything you need to play is right there in a cute little pouch. That would make it the perfect game to take on long car trips, visiting family, or any place you have a bit of time to kill. Plus, it sounds like so much fun!

    Thanks!
    h4schaffer at gmail dot com

  7. Pixel Berry says

    I didn’t realize that other games are available from this company. This is wonderful! The Fruitominoes sounds another one my family would like… but the Bananagrams is the one we want the most!

  8. Sandy VanHoey says

    I like Pairs in Pears

  9. I love how it’s a fast paced word puzzle. Sometimes word games can get boring.

  10. Quick thinking, vocab. building, +fun is a win all around!

  11. Jan Messali says

    I’d also like to play Appleletters.

  12. I learned Bananagrams is the creation of three generations of the Nathanson family, spanning in age from 7 – 75 years.

  13. I learned that the bananagrams name comes from an anagram that will drive you bananas 🙂 I love that they are willing to work with organizations, for instance the school that they allowed to purchase 60 sets at wholesale to have the tournament. They realize the value that word games has on children and their vocabulary 🙂

  14. Heather Augenstein says

    I had no clue that this was such a cool game! I visited the site and I would like Bananagrams and Pairs In Pears! If we don’t win, I am going to buy one of these for us. We love tile games, board games and card games!!

  15. Teresa Moore says

    I learned that they had a successful launch at the London Toy Fair in January 2006. And they have different games to buy.

  16. Karen Joyce says

    Oh! I love the FRUITOMINOES!

  17. I want Zip It

    andysavi.mom@gmail.com

  18. i want the original bananagrams

  19. tyrra white says

    Love crosswords! Love this idea!

  20. Miranda Welle says

    I like that you can get replacements! But I love that this is a family friendly game!

  21. Lily Kwan says

    Appletters looks very fun!

  22. i want the bananagrams game the most. Though the pear one is cool too!

  23. Birdie Skolfield says

    Zipit looks like fun for the WHOLE family

  24. I like the appletters and the bannagrams.

  25. Penny Kathleen says

    The Fruitominoes look really fun!

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