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First Class Letters is a roll and write word game that supports a player count from one to one hundred. Well, it comes with eight pencils, so that might involve some serious passing of the writing utensils, and a tablet of about a hundred double sided score sheets, so you'll have two epic 100 player First Class games before heading to the Gamehead website to print up more score sheets. Obviously, the 100 player count is a bit of joke but First Class Letters does support a truly wide range of players, you can pull this out for virtually any number of people and get the game, and dice, rolling in a few minutes.
The execution is super simple. The first thing you do is roll the three brown letter dice, lay them out in alphabetical order and write them (in that order) on the special rows. Over seven rounds you'll be adding words to your score sheet, getting points and making sure to keep your words in alphabetical order. To begin the first round, you simply roll the three letter dice and the Dead Letter die. You score one point for each instance of a letter you use, get a X2 bonus if you use all three letter dice and get canceled (as in you get zero points for the entire round) if you use the Dead Letter die. The faces on the Dead Letter die are AEIOSY, so you can see what a spanner that can throw into your brain works.
There will likely be a bit of gear grinding your first few games when you try is kick the old “I'm restricted to using just these letters” Scrabble/Boggle mindset to “I want to use these letters (and as many times as possible) and any other letters that I feel inclined to add.” Need to use two instances of one of the rolled letters? Bonus! That's just extra points for you. Roll a Q without a U? No problem, pull that U out of the ether and use it in your word. Feel free to slap a S on the end of any word to make it plural...but it won't get you any additional points. Have you always wanted to use Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in a word game? Go for it, but it's only going to be when Y is on the Dead Letter die.
You know when F U and C come out you are totally going to use the word...Cuffed. Because, you know, the double F is going to score twice and you'll get that sweet X2 bonus for using all the letters. The one rule that I think is absolutely brilliant in First Class Letters is the sand timer rule. Normally, I like to avoid a sand timer like COVID, but the rule in First Class Letters is that the first player who completes a word flips the timer over. Then, everyone else has about 40 seconds to complete their word. So, you can forget about anyone complaining about how long someone is taking or complaining about not having enough time. Your group is the first timer. So, be it 30 seconds or 2 minutes before the first person flips the timer, everyone has that time. Then everyone has 40 more seconds. * Chef's Kiss *
The Express version of the game is the one I have explained but there are a few variant rules included in the game. The Priority variant calls for you to roll one of the Brown Package dice and everyone is then required to use that letter in some capacity in their word for the round or score zero points for that round. Both the Express and Priority variants have those wonderfully humbling moments of pulling a word out at the last second that should score you double points for using all the Letter Dice only to realize that you accidentally used the Dead Letter (It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal. You get NOTHING! You Lose! Good day, sir!).
The Breezy Variant eliminates the use of the Dead Letter die. While still sufficiently brain toasting, I prefer the challenge of the Express and Priority variant but feel free to Breeze your non-gamer friends into First Class Letters with this version.
The game is prone to what I would call “Favorite Words.” The first time you whip out Vivisection to score a boatload of points, it will likely stick in your head. Then, when the chance comes up in an a subsequent game, you'll be tempted it use it (or a variant of it) again. So that “stickiness” feels bad, in both not wanting to “game the game” and not being able to get that damn word our of your head when VCN come up on the the Letter dice.
First Class Letters feels like a classic word game because it is so rules light (and I mean that in the most complimentary way). That translates into fast (less than 30 minutes no matter the player count) flowing gameplay. I'm not sure if the Letter Dice are the chunkiest dice ever created but they are surely in the running and are dead on accurate for the packages they represent. I can't resist the pull of this game...you know me, I love a little word play.
A review copy of this release was provided by the publisher. Therewillbe.games would like to thank them for their support.
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