Play Candygrams your own way, part 2

In our last blog post, we pointed out how Candygrams is not only simple and easy to learn, but also super flexible when it comes to creating your own house rules. Some people, for instance, play a variation of the game where you can attach your new word to any color as opposed to one the colors rolled. House rules are not only allowed, they're encouraged! Just make sure everyone agrees on them ahead of time.

Let’s continue the idea of house rules by suggesting a few more creative ways to play Candygrams:

Have all players use at least one compound word — like rowboat, paycheck, or takeout — in their crossword.

Require every player’s base word to be a short phrase, like “Told you so,” “Break the ice,” or “See you soon.” It’s a great way for everyone to use up more letters early on in the game.

Ask that every player use their name, or the name of one of their opponents, in their crossword.

Make words that are a certain length. What if at least 5 words on your crossword had to be 5 letter words? Or what if all words had to be a 4 letter word or shorter?

When it comes to word length, how about a 7-6-5-4-3? That’s where every player’s crossword must contain at least one 7 letter word, one 6 letter word, one 5 letter word, one 4 letter word, and one 3 letter word. Too hard? Try a 6-5-4-3-2.

Allow only words that start with, or contain, a certain common letter. The player tossing the dice could choose that letter when it’s their turn to roll.

Allow only words that have a certain vowel, or a certain number of vowels. What if every word on your crossword had to contain an E, or what if every word had to contain at least two vowels?

If you’re feeling really silly, allow only words that are spelled backwards!

Candygrams is incredibly fun just the way it is. But, with a little flexibility, you can invent all kinds of challenging variations.