Superghost (game)
{{Short description|Two-player paper-and-pencil word game}}
Superghost is a paper and pencil word game for two players. A letter is written on a sheet of paper, and each player takes turns adding a letter either to the beginning or the end of this ever-growing word stem. Any word-stem a player creates must form part of a valid English word, without actually being a word itself. The first player to create a word (with at least three or four letters) loses. It is similar to the game of Ghost, where players only add letters to the end of a word.
The game can be played with paper and pencil or simply spoken aloud. The game was played by James Thurber and his circle of friends.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1951/09/29/1951_09_29_027_TNY_CARDS_000231926 |title="Do 'You Want To Make Something Out of it?, Or, If you Put An "O" On "Understo", You'll Ruin My "Thunderstorm" |accessdate=2020-10-14 |author=James Thurber |authorlink=James Thurber |date=29 September 1959|format= |website= |magazine=The New Yorker |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }}
Some online sites call the game "Lexicant."
Bluffing and challenging
At any turn a player is expected to have one or more "reserve words" in mind which could be formed from the exact word-stem in play. If the letters in play were "MICAB", for example, valid reserve words would include "AMICABLE" and "AMICABILITY". However, a player can opt to bluff on their turn - that is, they can add a letter to the word-stem without actually having a reserve word in mind. Bluffing is almost always done as a last resort, though some players may use bluffs strategically to force their opponents into untenable positions. If a player feels their opponent has played a bluff and has no reserve word in mind, they may lodge a challenge at any time before the next turn is played. The recipient of the challenge must then provide a valid reserve word which contains the word-stem in play. If they are able to do so, the challenged player wins the game. If they can not provide a reserve word, the challenger wins the game.
Strategy
Superghost requires a strong vocabulary, but that alone is not generally enough to truly master the game. Familiarity with commonly used suffixes, prefixes, and Pluralization is a must, as these can be used to extend word-stems into larger and larger formations before a word must finally be created. But simply extending the length of a word won't guarantee a win. A player must also employ simple strategies to ensure that the final word contains the proper number of letters required for them to win: an even number if they made the first move, or an odd number if they played the second move.
Example games
Two example games could be played as follows:
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! width="150pt"|Example 1 ! width="150pt"|Example 2 |
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| A AT ATI PATI IPATI IPATIO CIPATIO ICIPATIO TICIPATIO NTICIPATIO NTICIPATION NTICIPATIONS ANTICIPATIONS | V IV TIV ITIV SITIV NSITIV NSITIVI NSITIVIT ENSITIVIT ENSITIVITI ENSITIVITIE SENSITIVITIE RSENSITIVITIE RSENSITIVITIES ERSENSITIVITIES PERSENSITIVITIES YPERSENSITIVITIES HYPERSENSITIVITIES |
In Example 1, it can be noted that the phrase "AT" does not end the game; this is because words only become valid once they are at least three letters long.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.lexicant.org Lexicant.org]{{dl|date=November 2022}} - Online single-player version