WORD FUN Cartridge Instructions (For 1 or 2 Players) Letters are just letters until you make them words. High in the sky incomplete words float by. Quick, fill in the missing letter. Load the vowel, line up to shoot -- Blast Off! Then go off to the jungles where monkeys scamper through trees, grabbing letters to build into words. When you please, move on to a quieter game. Unscramble letters and spell words that criss-cross on the display. Through the magic of games, you'll learn that spelling can be fun -- all the while you play. NOTE TO PARENTS Letters and spelling take a fun new dimension with three exciting word games. WORD FUN by Mattel Electronics is the playful way for elementary school age children to improve their vocabulary and spelling skills. Developed in conjunction with the famous Children's Television Workshop, WORD FUN adds zip to learning by using the latest, most progressive technology. There's plenty of action once letters pop on the screen. Players race monkeys through the jungle to capture letters with their tails; or try to make new words by shooting vowel rockets at words in the sky. Even traditional crosswords becomes more exciting on the electronic grid. Before you know it, learning and playing are wrapped up in one! THE GAME CAN BE PLAYED IN TWO WAYS Two players can compete against each other at the same time OR one child can play alone, developing speed and accuracy at his own pace. SELECT SPEED All three Word Fun games can be played at four different speeds. and each speed selection affects the overall game play. Press 3 for slow, 2 for moderate, 1 for fast, or press the DISC for very fast. SELECT GAME After the game speed is selected, the screen shows: 1. CROSSWORDS 2. WORD HUNT 3. WORD ROCKETS Choose a game by pressing the number of the game you want to play. For example, if you want to play Word Hunt, press key number 2 on your hand controller. Important: The game will start as soon as you press the number to select. Be sure to read the instructions for a game BEFORE you select it. CROSSWORDS OBJECT OF THE GAME Players take turns spelling words on the grid. Each word must connect to another. Highest score after 20 moves -- wins! THE CONTROLS KEYPAD 1 THROUGH 7: Move letters HORIZ (KEYPAD 8): Spell word left to right VERT (KEYPAD 9): Spell word top to bottom CLEAR WORD (KEYPAD CLEAR): Clear word CLEAR LETTER (KEYPAD 0): Clear letter KEYPAD ENTER: Enter word ANY SIDE ACTION BUTTON: Give up a turn DISC: Move cursor (white square) START CROSSWORDS Either player presses 1 and Crosswords appears on the screen. Player on the left uses the row of letters in the tan section on the left of the screen. Player on the right uses the letters in the green section on the right. FIND A WORD Player on the left begins. Look at the left row of scrambled letters and try to spell out a word. MOVE THE CURSOR You must first place the cursor where you want the word to start. It will move in 8 different directions, depending where you press the direction disc. Tap the edge of the disc and the cursor moves in the direction you want it to go. The first word can be placed anywhere on the grid. CHOOSE WORD DIRECTION Once the cursor is in position, decide which direction you want to spell out your word. To spell it from top to bottom, press VERT (KEYPAD 9). To spell it from left to right press HORIZ (KEYPAD 8). If you accidentally press HORIZ or VERT before the cursor is in its desired position, the cursor will not move. Press Clear then move the cursor, then press HORIZ or VERT again. SPELL OUT THE WORD To transfer the letters from the row onto the grid, press the number next to each letter, one at a time. Let's say that number 1 is a D, 3 is an O, 6 is a W and 7 is an R. You could spell W-O-R-D from left to right by pressing HORIZ (KEYPAD 8) then 6-3-7-1. As each letter appears on the grid, it disappears from the row. The cursor also moves, showing where the next letter will be placed. The word being spelled is the same color as the player's section. FINISH A WORD When you are satisfied with the word you spelled, press ENTER. The cursor disappears and your opponent must now approve your word. OPPONENT APPROVES WORD If your opponent agrees that you have spelled a word correctly, he presses his ENTER Key. One point is added to your score for each letter of the word you entered. The score appears on the screen. For example, W-O-R-D has 4 letters, so the score would be 4 - 0. If your opponent doesn't think you have spelled a word correctly, he or she may challenge. Look the word up in the dictionary. If it is correct, the challenger must press ENTER and the game continues. But if it is incorrect, you must press CLEAR WORD and ENTER, and you lose your turn. Your word will disappear from the board & Letters return to your row. Your opponent presses his ENTER key and it's now his turn. CROSS WORDS The second word on the grid must connect with the first. After that, each new word in the game must connect to one already on the grid. For example, if the word WORD is horizontally on the board, the letters L-A-N can be placed vertically immediately above the D to spell LAND. If you try to enter an unconnected word, a loud buzzer sounds, and the word automatically clears. Start again. SPELL MORE THAN ONE WORD Placing letters on the grid might create more than one word. For example: placing the letters S-U-N vertically immediately to the RIGHT of the end of WORD creates WORDS as well as SUN. You get one point for each letter in each word. In this case, the letter S is counted twice. There are 5 letters in WORDS: 3 letters in SUN. Total points for this move is 8. Make sure that the letters you place on the grid spell a word in all directions. If not, they must be cleared from the screen. THE GAME ENDS Players take turns spelling words. One move is completed after each player enters a word. The player with the highest score at the end of 20 moves, wins the game. CHANGE YOUR LETTERS If you are not satisfied with the word you have spelled, you can change the letters. Press CLEAR LETTERS to erase one letter at a time, starting with last letter you put down. As you clear the letters, they disappear from the grid and reappear in their original position at the side. Or press CLEAR WORD to sweep the entire word off at once. If you clear an entire word, press HORIZ (8) or VERT (9) again before selecting new letters. CAN'T SPELL A WORD If you just can not find a word in you letters, press any action button. You give up that turn, but get a new set of letters for the next move. START A NEW GAME To start a new game, press the reset, tap disc and press 1. SCORING One point for each letter in a correctly spelled word is added to a player's score. SOUNDS Click: when cursor moves / when each letter is added to a word on the grid. CROSSWORDS RULES Before you begin to play, decide if you will accept proper nouns, foreign words, etc. Adding -ing, -s, etc. on words counts as an entirely new word. If players of different skills are playing together, make the competition more fair by limiting the game to three or four letter words. WORD HUNT OBJECT OF THE GAME Two players spell words at the same time. Each player controls a monkey who picks up letters in the jungle and races back to spell 3 words (up to 8 letters each). Players must think fast because the highest score at the end of five 3- minute turns -- wins! THE CONTROLS CLEAR LETTER (KEYPAD 0): Clear letter KEYPAD ENTER: Enter word ANY SIDE ACTION KEY: Pick-up, place and throw away letters DISC: Move monkey START LETTER HUNT Either player presses 2 and Word Hunt appears on the screen. 15 letters are scattered on the screen. The clock begins to tick down from 3 minutes. Player on the left controls the blue monkey. Player on the right controls the white monkey. Press the edge of the disc in the direction you want your monkey to move. Stop when the center of the monkey is on the letter you want to pick up. Press any action button and the letter pops on your monkey's tail. The letter changes to the same color as the monkey. Important: Be sure that the center of the monkey is over the letter. RELEASE LETTER Press the disc again and scamper your monkey into the scoring area (bottom portion of screen). When you enter the scoring area, release the letter by pressing any action button. The letter disappears from the monkey's tail and appears at the cursor's position. The cursor now indicates where the next letter will be placed. Important: release the letter as soon as you cross the line into the scoring area. The letter will automatically be placed in the position indicated by the cursor. Hurry and get your next letter. As one letter is taken from the jungle area, another pops on to replace it. There will always be 15 letters in the jungle. FINISH A WORD When you finish spelling the first word, press ENTER. The cursor now moves to the next line. You do not take turns in this game, so start your next word immediately. (If a word is 8 letters long you do not have to press ENTER; the cursor goes to the next line automatically after placing the 8th letter in a word.) OOPS! YOU MISSPELLED THE WORD Press CLEAR LETTER (0) and the last letter disappears. Continue to press CLEAR LETTER until all the incorrect letters are removed. You can clear letters even after you have entered a word. THROW LETTERS IN THE TRASH CAN If you accidentally pick up a letter you don't need, throw it quickly into the trash can just above the scoring areas. Place the center of the monkey on the trash can. Press any action button to release the letter and it disappears. Now go and get the correct letter. CHECK WORDS AND ENTER SCORES When time runs out or both players complete 3 words, it is time to check the words. An arrow points to the first word on the left. If the player on the right wishes to challenge the word, check in the dictionary. If the word is not correctly spelled, player on the left must press his own CLEAR WORD button. The word disappears from the screen and nothing is added to the score. If the word is correct, your opponent presses ENTER and the score appears on the screen. Repeat with all words. START A NEW GAME After all words are verified, and scores are entered, there is a brief pause. Then the game automatically starts over. There are five turns in a game. TIPS * The quickest way to play this game is to keep the action button pushed in at all times. Run through the trash can to throw the letter away or hold in the action button and run your monkey through the letter you want to pick up. It pops on his tail. (Be careful not to run through a letter you do not want.) Then run in and out of the scoring area and the letter is released. (Be careful not to run through the trash can on the way.) * Pick up letters that are closest to your scoring area if you run short of time. * Look at your opponent's word. If you know the next letter he will need, go pick it up and throw it away. * When you need a letter that is not in the jungle, throw away some letters. New letters will pop on to the screen. * If you finish making three words and there is still time left, go throw away letters your opponent might need. SOUNDS Click : when clock counts down Jungle sounds: random bird calls, lion roars Buzz : when you enter third word or time runs out Ding : accept a word and enter into score Tom Tom drum : enter a word WORD ROCKETS OBJECT OF THE GAME Two players try to complete the same word at the same time. Load vowels on your wagon and blast them at the incomplete word in the sky. First player to spell 50 words -- wins! THE CONTROLS ANY SIDE ACTION BUTTON: Load and blast off letters DISC: Move wagon START WORD ROCKETS Either player presses 3 and Word Rockets appears on the screen. Two consonants float by with a space in the middle. The player on the left controls the red wagon and the player on the right controls the yellow wagon. MOVE YOUR WAGON Move your wagon to pick up vowels (along bottom of screen) and to line up with the word in the sky. Practice moving your wagon by pressing the left and right side of the disc. LOAD A VOWEL Look at the incomplete word in the sky, then look for the vowel that would correctly complete that word. Quickly move your wagon into that vowel area and press any action button. The Vowel is loaded onto the wagon. You don't need to land right on the vowel to pick it up. When you load one letter on the wagon, another immediately pops into that space. BLAST OFF THE LETTER After you have loaded a vowel on the wagon, press the disc to zoom your wagon across the screen so that it lines up with the word in the sky. Press any action button and the vowel blasts off. You need to be fast. Sometimes the incomplete word comes from left to right, and sometimes from right to left. The speed and height of the word varies randomly. Timing is important when you blast off the vowel. If the word is high in the sky, you need to blast the vowel off before the word reaches the wagon. As the letter rises, the word moves across to meet it. COMPLETE A WORD When you hear a "RING", a correct vowel has hit the word in the sky! The screen flashes in red, then the word changes to the color of the player who spelled it. The word is displayed for a few seconds than rises to the top and disappears. When you complete a word, one point is added to your score. If two vowels complete a word at the same time, the word turns yellow, but both players get a point. When you hear a "BOING", the vowel you blasted won't make a word. It bounces off the word in the sky -- wrong vowel!! If you blast a vowel skyward and it misses the word, it rises off the screen. START A NEW GAME To start a new game, press the reset, select the speed, then press 3. TIPS If you need a vowel that isn't on the screen, blast off a vowel and hope the one you need pops on. SCORING: One point is added to the score for completing each word. SOUNDS: Shot : blast vowel to the sky Ring : vowel makes a word BOING! : vowel bounces off word Gonggg!: first to 50 points -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (c)1980, 1998 Intellivision Productions, Inc.