Motel Magazine Discussion Board The Rules

Bike Boggle: Official Rules: Version 1

Game Location

The game was designed to be played in the neighborhoods of Sacramento known as Mid-Town and East Sacramento. Theoretically, though, it could be played in any city that has streets named after the letters of the alphabet.

The Players

A game of Bike Boggle usually involves two or more players. Single player versions of the game are possible, but we're not going to discuss those because it seems too boring. Each player must be riding a bike.

The Game

Each player takes turns being "the leader". All players who are not the leader are "followers". The leader must ride his or her bike on letter streets in such a way as to spell words by the streets ridden on. Followers must follow the leader.

Rules

  • Each city block counts as a single letter. So, for example, if the leader were to ride on E Street for two blocks, it would add 2 Es to his word.
  • "Backtracking" or riding the opposite direction on a letter street you just rode on also counts as repeating the letter.
  • The leader is not required to reveal what word he intends to spell and he or she may change the word being spelled depending on circumstances. For example, if the leader originally set out to spell "EGG", but discovered that it was impossible to get from E Street to G street without backtracking or riding on B Street, the leader could change his or her word to one that begins with "EE" or "EB".
  • The leader can use any means necessary to get from one letter street to the next in his or her word. But, every letter street that is ridden on counts towards the leader's word.
  • For a letter to count towards a word, the leader must ride a complete block. A complete block starts on a cross street and ends at either the next cross street or a dead end.
  • The rules of Scrabble apply when determining whether a word is allowed.
  • Once the leader has successfully spelled a word, he must stop riding and one of the followers becomes the new leader. The new leader must begin riding where the previous leader left off.
  • If the leader is unable to spell a word, he must stop riding at the point at which he realizes that he cannot spell a word (or at the point that the followers realize that the leader cannot spell a word). A new leader takes over and play resumes.

Scoring Points

  • The leader scores a point for each letter of a successfully ridden word. However, a word with under 3 letters scores 0 points.
  • If the leader is unable to spell a word, 1 point shall be deducted from his score.

Winning the Game

Play continues, with each player taking turns being the leader, for as long as the players wish. A traditional game lasts for 3 rounds (each player is the leader 3 times).