Vie - The Wordplay's the Thing

When scientists found a granite slab at the Malibu Archeological Dig with a single ancient alphabet character on it, they were puzzled. Soon they uncovered another slab and another and another. Some slabs were identical. Most slabs contained several characters. Fifty four slabs were found in all. Experts were stumped.

Word of this curiosity reached the recreational laboratories at Victory Point Games. Professionals here recognized what the archeologists had found immediately: a word game. Perhaps, they had found the first crossword game ever devised. You now hold what we believe is the word game cave people used to play, which we’ve come to call Vie. The original rules to this game have been lost to antiquity. This version should be more manageable than the original version of the game (after all, granite is so hard to shuffle).

Vie by designer Alfonzo Smith is a game for 2-4 players, using a 3 x 3 grid of tiles (cards) with one to four sets of letters on them. Each turn, you place a new tile over an existing tile to try to create new words, scoring them based upon the number of letters on the tiles that you use to make those words. You can score multiple words on the same tile play, so landing the best-scoring opportunities requires some strategic planning. Play continues for a number of rounds that decreases with more players. Vie is very easy to learn, but not easy to master, and will hit the sweet spot for the word game lover in you!

Polybag Game Components:

One 8-page, full color rules booklet (score card included)

54 3" x 3" square tile cards