Alpha Bandits (2014)

About this game

Alpha Bandits is a fast-paced word-building game featuring double-sided letter tiles. Players race to score the most points by building words of three or more letters. Each letter tile has a blue side and a red side. Players can mix and match colors when forming their words to receive different types of score bonuses. The game is played in rounds, with scores being based on the letters played at the end of each round. This sounds simple, but beware of the Alpha Bandits! These sneaky tiles allow players to block, swap, flip, grab, or even end the round early for the win! Each game also contains a few rare "Gemstone" tiles that are worth extra points and may be used as any letter in the alphabet, making them very valuable indeed!

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 4.
• Rules load. At 1.0/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.