Kreuzwort-Pulok

Kreuzwort-Pulok is a collection of games with the same materials: 256 letter tiles (15 don't have letters, but faces on them - these are wildcards) and a grid board for each player that is protected from the view of other players by an integrated paper screen. There also is a cardboard "plate" (a round disk for discarded tiles). The goal is to form crosswords on the grid boards. There are ten games included: Sechzehner-Spiel: Each player has to form a word that someone announced. Tiles not needed for this are used for crossing words. Tiles are drawn and discarded (openly, so other players can grab the discarded ones). When the first player finishes, the other get penalties depending on the number of tiles left over and the number of tiles missing for the basic word. Fünfer-Spiel: Each player has to form a cross of two words with five tiles. When that isn't possible, additional tiles are drawn, but not more than two unused ones can be held in the end. The first player to achieve a legal crossword scores points. Achter-Spiel: Same as the Fünfer-Spiel, but two or more crosses have to be formed, three tiles can be kept. Kaufspiel (for two players): Each player draws ten tiles and looks at them without sorting them. The active player can then announce "buying" or "playing". When buying, he/she also announces a number of tiles. Both players now have to discard this number of tiles and redraw them. When playing, both try to form a legal cross with their tiles. The winning player gets 10-15 points, the other one a penalty depending on the number of unused tiles. Leiter: Two columns of ten letters each are places on the table. The task of the players is to extend each pair of letters in one row into words. Thus they can get rid of their tiles. A player who cannot play has to draw a new tile. The first player to get rid of his/her tiles is the winner. Gruppenspiel: Similar to Leiter, but with an open cross instead of fixed columns. So the players can add tiles in any direction, as long as the letter combination occurs in a German word. Wettrennen: Each player gets 19 tiles and secretly forms a cross using at least 11 tiles. The score of the first player to achieve this is 10 plus the last digit squared (11 to 91 points). The other players lose one point for each unused tile. Wörter anbinden: A letter is placed on the table. Each player takes turns to add a letter, but the letters still have to form the beginning of a word. When that is not possible, all but the last (at least) two tiles are discarded and the last letters start the new word. The first player who can use up his/her tiles is the winner. Ausfüllspiel: Three letters are flipped open on the plate in the middle of the table. All players now try to form a word which uses two of these letters as first and last letters. The first player to manage this is the winner. Alleinspiel: A collection of four solitaire games. The designer of Kreuzwort-Pulok is uncredited, but the preface is signed "J.M." (It seems likely, but isn't entirely clear whether these are the initials of the designer). (User Summary by HilkMAN)