Quiddler is a small boxed word game with 118 cards that I seem to have had forever, but really just a few years. I saw one for sale in a game store the other day and thought it would make a nice topic.

There is a solitaire game as follows: Deal eight stacks of five cards each face down. On top of those stacks, deal one card face up. Make as many words as you can from the cards that are face up.

When you lay the cards out to make the words, turn the card underneath it face up, but do not do that until the word has been made. You cannot add on to a word in the making by using cards underneath them.

Once the word has been laid down and completed; when you turn over the cards you may add on to an already completed word. If a stack has been used, you may fill it in with cards from the other stacks.

The regular play for two or more people definitely needs a score card as you will be dealing different amounts of cards each round. I have found the easiest score card to make is one that has the players name at the top and then skip lines (to add scores) by putting the numbers of cards to deal down the side.

The dealer is chosen however you wish to choose. The player on the dealer's left goes first and play continues clockwise. The cards are dealt, then the remaining cards, or the stockpile, is placed in the center of the table. The top card is turned face up as the first discard.

The first hand gets three cards, the second hand gets four. The third hand is a deal of five cards, while the fourth hand gets six. Just up the cards by one each hand until the eighth hand where everyone gets ten cards.

When your turn arrives, whether or not you have words made, you must pick up the top card of the discard pile or the stockpile. You can then lay down any word or words you have and discard one card.

If you make words and cannot discard one card, the play continues around the table. When your turn comes, you make pick up a card just to symbolically discard it. That hand is then over.

When a hand is over, any unused cards remaining in any players hand counts against them in scoring.

The player with the most words gets an additional ten points in scoring. Also, the player with the longest word gets an additional ten points. Should there be two or more players with the same amount of words or the same word length; the additional ten points are not awarded.

Points for each card are shown on the cards. Like the board game, Scrabble, each letter, or gourps of letters have different values. The person with the most points at the end of the 8 hands is the winner.

I like the solitaire game and playing with three or more people. Our opinions may differ, but I find that when playing with two people, it makes for a more challenging game if each person plays two hands.

According to the manufacturer, the letters on the cards are from Celtic manuscripts dated from 500 - 800 AD. The letters are very intricate and interesting to look at as you are playing.