This group of facedown tiles is known as the “bunch. ” Mix the letters around a bit after flipping them over to ensure that they’re randomly distributed.

For 2-4 players, draw 21 tiles each. For 5-6 people, draw 15 tiles each. For 7-8 people, draw 11 tiles each.

Each player creates their own, personal word grid (unlike Scrabble, where all players add on to one group grid). Everyone should be playing simultaneously—there are no “turns” in Bananagrams. You are racing the other players to be the first to use all your letters. Consider starting off with a longer word, which gives you more opportunities to build new words.

Be sure to dump your letter far away in the pile so you don’t pick it up immediately if you draw again.

It’s always a good idea to double-check all your words are valid and spelled correctly before peeling. An effective strategy is to “peel” as fast as possible, several times in a row. An influx of new tiles may slow your opponents down!

In this example, the player has a newly drawn T. By replacing the D in FOOD with the T and creating FOOT, the player was able to place the D at the end of TIE to make TIED, effectively using all of their tiles. Two letter words like QI, IT, and OE are useful placeholders for new letters until you can work them into a larger word.

Sometimes, the number of tiles divides evenly among players. If this is the case, you’ll end up with no tiles left in the bunch after the final peel.

If 2 players yell “Bananas!” at the same time, you have a tie. In this case, the player with the longest word in their grid can be declared the winner—but you can also come up with another house rule to determine the tie-breaker.

When the number of tiles left in the bunch is fewer than the remaining players, the first person to use up all their tiles again exclaims “Bananas!” Their grid should be inspected for disqualifying words as well. If they are all correct, this player is the winner!

If the game ends in a tie or a stalemate, with no one able to use all their letters, the winner is the player with the longest word in their grid.

This alternative is great for waiting in restaurants or doctor’s offices.

Then, repeat to see if you can beat your own best time. Or, challenge yourself by trying to create a grid using the fewest words possible. Look for longer, more complex words that you can play.

The game is over when all the tiles have been used to create one big grid. There are no winners in this version!