How To Win At Bananagrams

Here at Bananagrams, we believe that our little game can be played by anyone, anytime and that gamers of any skill level have the opportunity to win a round. But once in while you might find yourself trying to keep up with a serious word nerd so we thought we’d share some secret strategy and inside tips that may help to split the banana in your favor.

Start Strong! – When you turn over your initial 21 tiles, look for potential problem tiles and try to use them first. Got a Q? Look for a U and build that word first. Got a J? Build a couple short words that share the J (JOG, JOT) and get it out of the way. Assess your vowels and consonants. If you’re loaded with vowels, start with words that have more consonants. Like START!

Start Big! – Try to play a long word at the beginning to give yourself plenty of places to build from. You will be able to create words faster and it will be easier to utilize our next tip. And segue…

Spread Your Wings, I Mean Words – Try not to box yourself in with tight, compact grids. Use 4 and 5-letter words and build off the first and last letters of your words to keep your grid spacious, which will leave you more options as the game progresses.

Get Better With 2-Letters – Learn your two-letter words to use tough letters quickly. We’re not talking about IF, OR, AN, NO. We’re talking about QI, XU, ZA, JO. Look up a list and study it to be prepared when you’re dealt a Z or J at the end of a game.

Don’t Get Dump-Pressed – If you have a tile that you just can’t place, don’t be afraid to Dump it for 3 fresh tiles. But at the same time, try not to dump those hard-to-use letters right away without trying to place them. They’ll come back to bite you in the end!

Substitution Solution – Say you have a V left to place in your grid. Look for a word like CONE and swap that N with the V to make COVE. Placing an N will be much easier than that nasty little V!

Don’t Banana Panic – Bananagrams is a fast-paced game and speedy players can be overwhelming. There’s no need to stress though. Let the words come to you and with practice, you’ll find your word creating skills will become faster. You’ll also find that those speedy players will often end up as Rotten Bananas.

Fun And Done – It’s cliché, but true. The most important thing is to have fun. So get wordy and don’t be dazzled by those word wizards. Keep playing them and you just may become a word wizard yourself!

We hope these tips helped to improve your word creating skills. And if they did, share some pictures of your winning Bananagrams grids on Instagram and Facebook!