Last Christmas I received a Bananagram in my stockings. It was so much fun that I decided to show it to my colleagues at work. It so happened, that the banana game caught their fancy.
Ever since, several of them have been asking "Where can we buy Bananagrams?" Well, I was asked the question so many times that I decided to write about it.
Warning! A game of Bananagrams does not count as a daily serving of fruit! But fun? Definitely!
Bananagrams @ Amazon
Bananagrams is a fast and fun word game that requires no pencil, paper or board. All you need is a table.
One hand can be played in as little as five minutes. It is a great for family fun as well as being educational. Bananagrams portability makes it perfect for travel. Just grab the pouch and go.
Bananagrams @ eBay
You can buy Bananagrams from eBay and save some of your hard earned dollars. Make sure to choose "FREE Shipping", "New" condition and Item Location "US Only" in your search filter.
If you don't enjoy bidding, you can filter your search results by selecting the format "Buy It Now."
More Flavors of Bananagrams
Pairs in Pears
A fun way for children to develop memory and cognitive skills while learning alphabetical order, word construction, consonants and vowels, vocabulary, rhyming, and more.
For 2 to 4 players.
Apple Letters
The Apple shaped carrying pouch domino game where you don't connect the DOTS... You connect the LETTERS! A fun word game for all.
110 lettered tiles, requires no board, pencil or paper, hours of family fun!
Zip It
Zip It is fast, furious and fun! One hand can be played in as little as 20 seconds as you race to form your own crossword grid using ANY side of the 24 beautiful ivory-like letter cubes.
Since it's fast you can play it while traveling or while waiting at an airport. Makes intervals seem shorter. Play anytime, anywhere - Get Zip It!
What is Bananagrams?
No pencil, paper or bulky board, just 144 letter tiles that zip into a banana bag. Like Scrabble and Boggle, you create words and crosswords, but Bananagrams lets everyone play at once, building, peeling and dumping letters until someone yells, "Bananas!" It's a fast, fun, delicious word game.
Bananagrams was Game of the Year winner at the 2009 International Toy Fair. It's an international phenomenon that started with a simple idea - "An anagram game that is so fast it will drive you bananas!"
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once. An anagram may be a synonym or antonym of its subject, a parody, a criticism, or praise - for example George Bush = He bugs Gore, Orchestra = Carthorse and so on.
Bananagrams does for letters what Sudoku did for numbers! It's the obsessive new puzzle craze that starts with 144 letter tiles in a banana-shaped bag and captures all the fun of crosswords and word games like Scrabble and Boggle.
Rule 1
Place all 144 tiles face down on center of table. These tiles are referred to as the "BUNCH." For games of 2-4 people, each player takes 21 letters from the bunch, keeping them face down. For 5-6 players, 15 letters are taken. For 7-8 (or more) players, 11 letters are taken.
Rule 2
NOW THE GAME BEGINS! Any one player says "SPLIT" whereupon all players turn their own tiles face up and proceed to form their OWN collection of connecting and intersecting words. The words may be horizontal or vertical, reading left to right or top to bottom. Each player may rearrange his/her own words as often as desired. Players DO NOT take turns, but play independently of each other and at the same time.
Rule 3
When a player has none of his/her original letters left, that player says "PEEL" and takes a tile from the bunch. At this point ALL OF THE OTHER PLAYERS MUST ALSO TAKE A TILE FROM THE BUNCH and add it to their collection of letters.
Rule 4
At any time, and as often as desired during play, any player may return a difficult-to-use letter back to the center of the BUNCH, face down, but MUST TAKE THREE LETTERS IN RETURN. The player must declare this action to the other players by saying "DUMP." This exchange does not affect the other players.
Rule 5
Play continues until there are fewer tiles in the BUNCH than there are players. The first player with no remaining letters shouts "BANANAS" and is the winner of that hand. The other players may now inspect the winning hand for misspelled or incorrect words. Proper nouns are not acceptable. Any available dictionary may be used. If all words are acceptable, that player is the WINNER OF THAT HAND. If any word in the "winning" hand is found to be unacceptable, that player becomes the "Rotten Banana" and is OUT OF THAT HAND, and must return his/her letters, face down to the center bunch and the game now resumes for the remaining players.
Bananagrams - The Official Book, has been written by the only three-time National Scrabble Champion, Joe Edley. The book reveals several secrets of Bananagrams, brain-twisting word fun of the game onto each page and creating new challenges for us.
It includes both stand alone word games, strategies and tips for the Banangrams game. In it there are sixteen clever puzzle types, including:
» Banana Trees, where the object is to build word grids based on a theme
» Banana Splits, a collection of four quick anagram puzzles to be solved in rapid-fire style
» Banana Leaves, with its four-, five-, six- and seven-letter words
» Banana Filling, what happens when you add a "K"? and more.
These puzzles have four levels of difficulty, from one banana to four bananas. Plus, there are glossaries:
» Special strategies for Bananagrams - The Game
» A list of "Weords" - weird words that are cool to play
» Two and three letter words to raise your game by a notch
» Fun banana facts and of course, an answer key!
If you are planning to take your Bananagrams to the next level, this book is a handy tool. Get it!
BEST OF
A hand can take as little as 5 minutes, so players, if desired, could play for the "best of five" or "the best of ten."
BANANA SMOOTHIE
For those who want to play a less hectic game, all tiles are placed face down on the table and the letters are divided equally among the players, remaining face down. Players then play the regular BANANAGRAMS game, but there is no "peeling" or "dumping." The first player to use all his/her letters shouts "BANANAS" and is the winner of the hand. If the game ends in a stalemate, the player with the fewest remaining letters is the winner.
BANANA CAFE
You can play this version in restaurants while waiting for service. The BANANAGRAMS pouch is placed on the table. Each player takes 21 tiles from the pouch. Players then proceed to play the regular game with "dumping" but NO "peeling." The first player to use all his/her letters says "BANANAS!!!" and is the winner.
BANANA SOLITAIRE
You can play this version when you are by yourself i.e. one player. Place all letters down on center of table. Take 21 letters and proceed to play the game. Only peel when needed. Try to beat your own best time in using all 144 letters, or try making as few words to use all 144 letters. This can be a relaxing way of honing your Bananagrams skills.
BANANA CHALLENGE
Play the regular Bananagrams rules but words must be three letters or longer. NO two letter words.
Advanced players could create their own special game by limiting the acceptable words to a specific category such as animals, food & drink, and more.
Bananagrams is a fast paced fun game which can keep us occupied for hours. Join the club, GET your Bananagrams today!
This video demonstrates how to play Bananagrams.
Ever since, several of them have been asking "Where can we buy Bananagrams?" Well, I was asked the question so many times that I decided to write about it.
Warning! A game of Bananagrams does not count as a daily serving of fruit! But fun? Definitely!
Bananagrams Game - Where to Buy?
Bananagrams @ Amazon
Bananagrams is a fast and fun word game that requires no pencil, paper or board. All you need is a table.
One hand can be played in as little as five minutes. It is a great for family fun as well as being educational. Bananagrams portability makes it perfect for travel. Just grab the pouch and go.
Bananagrams @ eBay
You can buy Bananagrams from eBay and save some of your hard earned dollars. Make sure to choose "FREE Shipping", "New" condition and Item Location "US Only" in your search filter.
If you don't enjoy bidding, you can filter your search results by selecting the format "Buy It Now."
More Flavors of Bananagrams
Pairs in Pears
A fun way for children to develop memory and cognitive skills while learning alphabetical order, word construction, consonants and vowels, vocabulary, rhyming, and more.
For 2 to 4 players.
Apple Letters
The Apple shaped carrying pouch domino game where you don't connect the DOTS... You connect the LETTERS! A fun word game for all.
110 lettered tiles, requires no board, pencil or paper, hours of family fun!
Zip It
Zip It is fast, furious and fun! One hand can be played in as little as 20 seconds as you race to form your own crossword grid using ANY side of the 24 beautiful ivory-like letter cubes.
Since it's fast you can play it while traveling or while waiting at an airport. Makes intervals seem shorter. Play anytime, anywhere - Get Zip It!
Bananagrams in Different Languages | ↑TOP |
Spanish Bananagrams | French Bananagrams | Hebrew Bananagrams |
Bananagrams Review | ↑TOP |
What is Bananagrams?
No pencil, paper or bulky board, just 144 letter tiles that zip into a banana bag. Like Scrabble and Boggle, you create words and crosswords, but Bananagrams lets everyone play at once, building, peeling and dumping letters until someone yells, "Bananas!" It's a fast, fun, delicious word game.
Bananagrams was Game of the Year winner at the 2009 International Toy Fair. It's an international phenomenon that started with a simple idea - "An anagram game that is so fast it will drive you bananas!"
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once. An anagram may be a synonym or antonym of its subject, a parody, a criticism, or praise - for example George Bush = He bugs Gore, Orchestra = Carthorse and so on.
Bananagrams does for letters what Sudoku did for numbers! It's the obsessive new puzzle craze that starts with 144 letter tiles in a banana-shaped bag and captures all the fun of crosswords and word games like Scrabble and Boggle.
Bananagrams Rules | ↑TOP |
Rule 1
Place all 144 tiles face down on center of table. These tiles are referred to as the "BUNCH." For games of 2-4 people, each player takes 21 letters from the bunch, keeping them face down. For 5-6 players, 15 letters are taken. For 7-8 (or more) players, 11 letters are taken.
Rule 2
NOW THE GAME BEGINS! Any one player says "SPLIT" whereupon all players turn their own tiles face up and proceed to form their OWN collection of connecting and intersecting words. The words may be horizontal or vertical, reading left to right or top to bottom. Each player may rearrange his/her own words as often as desired. Players DO NOT take turns, but play independently of each other and at the same time.
Rule 3
When a player has none of his/her original letters left, that player says "PEEL" and takes a tile from the bunch. At this point ALL OF THE OTHER PLAYERS MUST ALSO TAKE A TILE FROM THE BUNCH and add it to their collection of letters.
Rule 4
At any time, and as often as desired during play, any player may return a difficult-to-use letter back to the center of the BUNCH, face down, but MUST TAKE THREE LETTERS IN RETURN. The player must declare this action to the other players by saying "DUMP." This exchange does not affect the other players.
Rule 5
Play continues until there are fewer tiles in the BUNCH than there are players. The first player with no remaining letters shouts "BANANAS" and is the winner of that hand. The other players may now inspect the winning hand for misspelled or incorrect words. Proper nouns are not acceptable. Any available dictionary may be used. If all words are acceptable, that player is the WINNER OF THAT HAND. If any word in the "winning" hand is found to be unacceptable, that player becomes the "Rotten Banana" and is OUT OF THAT HAND, and must return his/her letters, face down to the center bunch and the game now resumes for the remaining players.
Bananagrams Book - "The Official One" | ↑TOP |
Bananagrams - The Official Book, has been written by the only three-time National Scrabble Champion, Joe Edley. The book reveals several secrets of Bananagrams, brain-twisting word fun of the game onto each page and creating new challenges for us.
It includes both stand alone word games, strategies and tips for the Banangrams game. In it there are sixteen clever puzzle types, including:
» Banana Trees, where the object is to build word grids based on a theme
» Banana Splits, a collection of four quick anagram puzzles to be solved in rapid-fire style
» Banana Leaves, with its four-, five-, six- and seven-letter words
» Banana Filling, what happens when you add a "K"? and more.
These puzzles have four levels of difficulty, from one banana to four bananas. Plus, there are glossaries:
» Special strategies for Bananagrams - The Game
» A list of "Weords" - weird words that are cool to play
» Two and three letter words to raise your game by a notch
» Fun banana facts and of course, an answer key!
If you are planning to take your Bananagrams to the next level, this book is a handy tool. Get it!
Fun Versions of Bananagrams | ↑TOP |
BEST OF
A hand can take as little as 5 minutes, so players, if desired, could play for the "best of five" or "the best of ten."
BANANA SMOOTHIE
For those who want to play a less hectic game, all tiles are placed face down on the table and the letters are divided equally among the players, remaining face down. Players then play the regular BANANAGRAMS game, but there is no "peeling" or "dumping." The first player to use all his/her letters shouts "BANANAS" and is the winner of the hand. If the game ends in a stalemate, the player with the fewest remaining letters is the winner.
BANANA CAFE
You can play this version in restaurants while waiting for service. The BANANAGRAMS pouch is placed on the table. Each player takes 21 tiles from the pouch. Players then proceed to play the regular game with "dumping" but NO "peeling." The first player to use all his/her letters says "BANANAS!!!" and is the winner.
BANANA SOLITAIRE
You can play this version when you are by yourself i.e. one player. Place all letters down on center of table. Take 21 letters and proceed to play the game. Only peel when needed. Try to beat your own best time in using all 144 letters, or try making as few words to use all 144 letters. This can be a relaxing way of honing your Bananagrams skills.
BANANA CHALLENGE
Play the regular Bananagrams rules but words must be three letters or longer. NO two letter words.
Advanced players could create their own special game by limiting the acceptable words to a specific category such as animals, food & drink, and more.
Bananagrams is a fast paced fun game which can keep us occupied for hours. Join the club, GET your Bananagrams today!
Bananagrams Video | ↑TOP |
This video demonstrates how to play Bananagrams.