If that header is a tiny bit confusing, don’t blame me, blame DABBLE, the new ridiculously fun and challenging word game (available in traditional board game and digital formats) that’s going to get you and your friends hooked after a single play. What works so well is how the game nudges you into thinking fast while expanding your vocabulary in each frantic five minute session as you rack your brain to come up with the winning wordiness. The rules are dirt simple to learn: two to four players need to sift through the 20 tiles they’re given and come up with two, three, four, five and six-letter words before the timer runs out. Points are scored based on leftover tiles and the first player to 100 points wins the game. An average game lasts around 30 minutes or so, but you’ll want to add an extra 15 – 20 minutes for sessions with younger kids and your snarky friends who keep trying to add made up words from some goofball urban dictionary.

Numbers on the tiles aside, don’t even think this a mere Scrabble knock-off. Contractions come into play and can help smart players win big against those who get hung up on certain words. There are a total of two apostrophe tiles, and you can’t spell words that use them without either in the game. If you manage to luck out and draw one or both, you’ll have an edge over the other players as they growl at you from around whatever table you’re playing on. You’ll definitely want to keep a good dictionary nearby just in case things get heated, but my test subjects and I never got to the rolling on the floor over a badly spelled word part (and combat isn’t even mentioned in the bilingual manual, by the way). If you’re a lonely sort or don’t have a talking pet, the game can even be played solo and yes, it’s still quite challenging as you improve your word power. Oh, In case you didn’t get it yet, the title of this review is done in the 2 – 6 word style of the game.

In addition to the pacing and excitement the game offers, what’s going to be the draw for some families is the fact that the game can also be played in Spanish (you get extra tiles that add the necessary alphabet characters) and even used as a learning aid for those who want to improve their English skills.  Another cool thing about the game worth noting: it was created by an 84-year old inventor named George Weiss (who just so happens to live nearby in Brooklyn, ) working out of his basement. This was a nice surprise for me because I’m so tired of the hipster elite crowd taking up all the air and shelf space in stores and online with their “retro” themed doodads. Go, George! With DABBLE, you get a very respect-worthy board game (or app or Facebook game, if you’re a family full of tech-obsessed proto-geeks).  I’d actually love to see this pop up on a handheld like the PlayStation Vita or Nintendo 3DS at some point or even a current or next-gen console, as it’s a family friendly title that anyone 10 and up can enjoy while improving their word power.