SNAFFLE An intriguing game for all the family. for 2 - 4 players. From the Snaffle vaults, letters appear one by one in a central pool. Players try to be the first to spot a word which can be made up of the letters available. If you can grab a word, the letters disappear from the pool and enter your custody. Snaffle's special twist is that at any time you can steal another player's word, add some new letters from the pool and form a brand new word for yourself. But you can't get too complacent about your catch - somebody might just snatch it back again. Snaffle is a game full of possibilities, for the sharp-witted and the quick-fingered. Longman Software: Your key to the world of words. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME 1. How many players? Press 2, 3 or 4, then RETURN. 2. Put in up to two initials for each player. Press RETURN after each player. 3. Each player is then told which is their PICK = Player Identification Claim Key. 4. The message "Please wait, the letters are being shuffled in the word store" appears on the screen. 5. The playing board now appears. Each player's initials and score are shown next to their playing area. The number of letters available is also shown. There are 105 letters to start, selected according to their frequency in English. 6. The initials of the first player are flashed. That player must press the SPACE BAR; this will bring the first letter from the letter store in to the pool area in the centre of the screen. 7. Each player in turn brings letters out of the store, going clockwise around the playing board as their initials are flashed. 8. The first player to spot a word (minimum 3 letters) in the supply pool presses their PICK. The player is asked to enter their word. The player types in the word and then presses RETURN. 9. The computer checks the letters in the word against those in the pool. The word must only use letters from the pool and letters can only be used as they occur. If the word is accepted by the computer the relevant letters disappear from the central pool, and the word is printed in the player's corner. 10. The computer asks "Is this word valid?". If one of the other players challenges the entered word (a dictionary can be used at this point to settle disputes), they press N and the letters are replaced in the pool. Otherwise press Y and the game continues. 11. If a player who has pressed their PICK is unable to form a word from the letters in the pool, they must press RETURN, and lose a point. 12. If a player wants to snaffle a word from another (or augment one of their words) they press their PICK key. Instead of simply typing in their word, they type first the word they intend to snaffle then the extra letter(s) from the pool and finally the whole new word, eg MAPLE + EX = EXAMPLE (press RETURN). 13. Words snaffled from another player must have a different root, you cannot just add -s, or -ed. Proper nouns, abbreviations and foreign words are not allowed. 14. The computer checks that the letters before the + form a word presently in one of the corners and also checks that the letters after the + are in the pool. 15. If the letters are not valid, the letters stay where they were, and the player loses a point. 16. If the letters are valid, the relevant letters disappear from the original corner and from the pool and reappear in the snaffler's corner. The other players can now challenge the entered word. 17. When all the 105 letters have been put in the pool, there will be no more circulating turns, but the players will still be able to press their PICK. You can go on doing this until all the letters are used up, or all the possibilities are exhausted with a few letters left. To end the game press SHIFT, E. 18. The winner is the player with the highest score at the end of the game. 19. Congratulations to the winner. Another game? Press Y for Yes and N for No. SCORING 1. You score points based on the length of your word minus 2; if you compose a word with 7 letters you score 5 points. You lose 1 point if you form an invalid word or if you fail to make a word. 2. When a word is snaffled, the player who loses the word has the points from that word deducted. The snaffling player scores the points for their new word. (C) Trevor Green 1984 LONGMAN SOFTWARE Longman Group Limited Longman House Burnt Mill Harlow Essex CM20 2JE ---- The back of the box says: "Other word games available from Longman Software: Riddle of the Sphinx Mountaineer Star Words Word Wizard More titles coming soon. Longman Software: Your key to the world of words."