Bananagrams is a word game that can be quickly summarized as “Real-time Scrabble without a board or points”. Its 144 letter tiles come in a banana-shaped pouch that looks adorable. The official way to play Bananagrams is simple enough (click here for the official rules ). However, what I would like to discuss in this post is a variant I invented that I simply like to call: Bananagrams CO-OP.

Where to buy

You can conveniently find the standard game of Bananagrams at most retailers, including Amazon (note: affiliate link).

How to play

Goal

As a team, the goal is to empty the Banana Bag as fast as possible.

Setup

Put the filled banana pouch on your table. That’s it!

Gameplay

Phase 1

  1. Unzip the Banana Bag, grab a handful of tiles (~21), and place them face-up on the table.
  2. Everyone plays simultaneously to make a single crossword at the center of the table that uses all face-up letters (the core). Any part of the core can be modified at any time. All words in the core must respect the Important Rules below.
  3. When the core uses all the face-up letters, move on to phase 2.

Phase 2

  1. The person closest to the Banana Bag grabs a single letter from it. They tell everyone what their letter is. They must add this letter to the core while respecting the Important Rules outlined below. They can rearrange any part of the core as needed.
  2. (Optional) The Banana Bag is passed to the player on the left.
  3. Repeat steps 1-2 until the Banana Bag is empty, at which time all players can claim victory!

Important Rules

  • All tiles forming the crossword must be connected into one big crossword; separated crosswords (i.e. touching only from corners of tiles) are not allowed.
  • Proper nouns (e.g. “Félix”) and acronyms (“LOL”) are never allowed.
  • Words must be read from left to right or top to bottom, as in typical crosswords.
  • Mistakes on the board must be resolved before normal play resumes. Before a new letter is drawn from the Banana Bag, all the words in the core must be valid and all letters must be connected.
  • The use of the internet is only allowed to validate someome else’s suggestion, or look up the definition of a suggestion.

Spicy twists 🌶️

You don’t have to add all of these twists to your game, though I personally recommend all of them since I feel they all contribute to make our games more alive and rewarding.

  1. Before beginning the game, give yourself an objective, such as beating your previous best time, finishing before the end of the lunch break, etc.
  2. For added pressure, when the timer is stopped, all words in the crossword must be valid, otherwise the team is disqualified.
  3. Since this is a CO-OPerative game, players are encouraged to help each other. However, when someone seems stuck trying to place their letter during their turn, if the player holding the letter piece wishes to come up with their own solution without help, the other players must respect that (even if it feels annoying).
  4. Players can draw a tile from the Banana Bag before their own turn for a “buffered move”. They can use it to plan their next move, but they shouldn’t announce their letter yet. This technique helps when the group is pressed for time.
  5. Players may choose to skip their turn, leave or enter the game at any time.
  6. Outsiders who are watching you play can voice their opinions about word legality and game state. Their feedback is binding, even if players disagree with it. In our experience, the best use of the board is to ask for their opinion when you are unsure about the legality of a specific word.
  7. All official languages are accepted (this is the best twist by far, and the secret to making this game a hit). Use this to your advantage, as it opens up more valid combinations of letters.
  8. When someone puts down a word you have never seen before, ask for what it means. It will help you remember it and it might come in handy in future games. Learning is fun!

Demonstration

Here is a 40 seconds video demonstration of the game being played:

Why I can’t stop playing Bananagrams CO-OP

Before I tell you what I think, here’s what ChatGPT answered when I asked it what it thought of my little twist on the Bananagrams game. Here is what it said:

These rules create a collaborative and dynamic gameplay experience where players work together to build a complete crossword grid using the available tiles. The added twists, such as allowing different languages, buffered moves, and involving observers, add layers of complexity and interaction to the game. Overall, it seems like a great way to enjoy the word-building fun of Bananagrams in a collaborative and social setting. Kudos to you for coming up with this innovative variant!

— ChatGPT

High praise from the world’s smartest A.I. as of today, is it not? 🙂

I discovered Bananagrams CO-OP by accident. Unlike Newton, it wasn’t an apple that fell on my head ; it was a banana.

I had brought this game to the office, but nobody was playing it. I liked the core idea of the word tiles, so I started to play Banana Solitaire.

To pass the time at lunchtime, and that seemed to get people’s attention. Slowly but surely, day by day, people would look at me and make comments, asking what game I was playing. I told them: “I’m playing a crossword game, the goal is to finish the bag as fast as possible.” At that point, I was already playing it in bilingual mode, simply because that made it more fun for me.

For weeks, every day I was at the office, I would rush to the cafeteria at lunch to prepare the core using a handful of tiles and wait for someone (anyone!) to jump in. I learned that people are more likely to jump in if you play by yourself for a while instead of asking them to make a move right away. It seems to make them feel more at ease when they can see the game in action and see what it’s about. I would also post pictures on Slack (in our #office channel) to thank anyone who took the time to participate with me, along with the picture of our game. This was great at creating memories and visibility:

After two months, we finally got our first win! 😁

We did it, within 54 minutes! 2023-05-16

It was incredible! We high-fived each other all around the table. People were cheering. We were genuinely psyched to have finally done it. Through teamwork, practice, and with determination, we pulled off what we initially thought was impossible.

My next highlight came the following week when I opened Slack while I was working from home and realized people played a game of Collaborative Bananagrams by themselves, pictures and all! My colleague Louis took it upon themself to start a game, and they managed to assemble a small crowd. It was a great day for bananas everywhere!

Invariably, people would rush to their local game store after playing my variant to try this game with their family. They were always confused when they read the rules that came with their purchase. They hadn’t realized that what they played was an unofficial variant of the game!

From this point on, I saw that Bananagrams CO-OP could be more than a game. For me, it is a tool that has the potential to rewire relationships. During gameplay, I enjoy using every opportunity I can to high-five people and make them feel valued. I see it in people’s eyes: they derive meaning from pulling of a complex move in front of everyone and getting rewarded for it. This can have a lasting effect on the rest of their day at work.

This variant is a hit everywhere I bring it. I cannot be bothered to pilay standard Bananagrams, shouting PEEL, DUMP, (but maybe the occasional BANANA!). This is a game I bring with me everywhere I go. It allows me to make friends, learn what they know about, learn new words, … The laughs we’ve had when playing this are real. The high fives and the “good job!” thrown around are a sight to see.

So there you have it: Bananagrams CO-OP! Feel free to try this concept at home or at your workplace and let me know what you think! I personally think the Bananagrams company should start selling bags labeled “Bananagrams CO-OP” with these new rules. What I find hilarious about this is that it would be a completely different experience for the players, but the actual contents of the banana pouch would be the same as the standard version. I tried to contact them about making this a thing. Who knows, maybe I could be credited as a board game designer… Wouldn’t that be something! 😄

*Update: They responded that they appreciated the enthusiasm, but were not interested in the Bananagrams CO-OP variant. My take on this is that Bananagrams CO-OP is a variant of an existing official variant, Banana Solitaire. Thus, maybe I could summarize this entire post with: Play Banana Solitaire, but with friends!

If you give this game a try, please tell us your fastest time in the comments below. 🍌 Have fun!