Alpha Cubes

By Henry R Koopman

ALPHA CUBES: 127 Spelling Games for All Ages is a book for families. This unique innovation in word gameplay makes it possible to play hundreds of games with a simple set of five different colored lettered cubes. These games cater to various age groups and skill levels, from beginners to advanced spellers.

Participants select c

• Language: English
• Publisher: Quantum Shift Publishing
• Release date: Nov 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798218076467

Henry R Koopman

Hank Koopman (a.k.a. Al Fabbet) is a retired Colorado Division of Wildlife dam safety engineer. While raising three kids, he marveled at their ingenuity in spelling words and began inventing Alpha Cubes games to aid them in learning to spell. Hank researches the American Civil War, concentrating on the 58th Illinois Volunteer Regiment with which his great-great-grandfather fought. He is working on articles and books for publication related to the Civil War. Hank can be reached at AlphaCubes.com.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

BEGINNER GAMES

GAME # 1

Alphabet War

Of all nature’s gifts to the human race, what is sweeter to a man than his children?

~ Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, orator, philosopher (106-43 BC)

This game helps young children learn the alphabet. Players roll cubes and race to be the first player to complete the alphabet. The best way to play this game is to have 26 cubes for each player. There must be 6 blue vowel cubes and 5 each of the consonant cubes.

Game Play:

The game starts with players rolling their 26 cubes in one throw. Kids love doing this, but the cubes must not get mixed up among players.

Players arrange their cubes in alphabetical order. Duplicate cubes and cubes showing blank faces are placed aside. Those cubes are rolled again in the next turn.

Each player rolls their remaining duplicate and blank cubes. Players continue to add the missing letters to their alphabet. Again, all duplicates of letters and blanks are set aside to roll again.

Players roll cubes as described until one player completes the alphabet and becomes the winner. If there are not enough cubes for each player to have 26 cubes, the players substitute letter tiles to show the letters they have rolled. After the first roll, players roll only the correct number of cubes containing letters still missing from their alphabets. For example, if 3 letters from the red cube are still needed, the player rolls 3 red cubes.

Each player gets an equal number of turns. Ties are possible.

How to Play the Game with Just One Basic Set:

Any player starts and rolls the 5 cubes 5 times, then rolls a blue cube.

The player starts the alphabet by taking a letter tile for each letter rolled, then passes the cubes to the next player.

After the first round, players roll only the correct number and colors of cubes necessary to complete the alphabet. After a player uses all the letters on a cube, the player no longer rolls that cube.

The first player to complete the alphabet is the winner, however, all players must complete the round before a winner is declared. All players get an equal number of turns, so ties are possible.

GAME # 2

Alphabet Race

Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore. And that’s what parents were created for.

~ Ogden Nash, American poet (1902-1971)

This game helps young children learn the alphabet. Players roll cubes one at a time in a race to be the first player to complete the alphabet. Each player works on their own alphabet. Only the Basic Set of Alpha Cubes is required for this game. Letter tiles are used to keep track of the letters rolled as players complete the alphabet.

Game Play:

A player starts the game by rolling the blue cube. If the player rolls an A, the turn continues by rolling the yellow cube with the B. If a B is rolled, the player tries for a C on the green cube, and so on through the alphabet. A player’s turn continues as long as the required letter is rolled. The turn ends if the next sequential letter is not rolled, or if a blank face is rolled.

Each player starts a turn by rolling the cube containing the letter not rolled in their previous turn.

There are consecutive letters of the alphabet on the consonant cubes which will require players to roll the same colored cube in successive turns and rolls.

Each player gets the same number of turns. This gives players an equal chance to win, but can result in a tied game. The first player to complete the alphabet wins.

Option: To speed up the game, designate a blank face roll as a wild cube that can be used for the needed letter.

GAME # 3

Alphabet Cube Capture

The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.

~ Plato, Greek philosopher (427-347 BC)

This game helps young children recognize letters. Players capture the cubes of other players by rolling a matching letter. Each player keeps a capture pile. The player with the most captured cubes at the end of the game wins.

Game Play:

Players start with an equal number of cubes of each color. Use 15 cubes, 3 of each color, for your first game.

A player starts by choosing any cube and rolling it. Cubes showing a blank face are rolled again until a letter is determined.

The next player rolls a cube of the same color. If the second player matches the letter of the first player, the second player captures the cube of the first player. After a player captures a cube, the turn is over.

The next player starts the sequence again by rolling a cube that the player has available.

If the second player does not match the first player’s letter, the third player rolls the same color cube and tries to capture the second player’s cube by rolling the letter that matches the letter rolled by the second player. The first player’s cube can no longer be captured.

The sequence repeats regardless of the number of players and eventually returns to the first player. If there are only 2 players, the players try to capture each other’s cubes, as there are no intervening players.

Eventually, all the cubes will be captured. As players lose cubes, they run out of specific colors. Players must pass when they do not have the needed color cube.

When a player captures the last cube of a color from the other players, all of the capturing player’s cubes of that color go into the player’s own capture pile, as that colored cube will no longer be played.

When players start passing turns it does not matter who passed a turn, or who had a cube captured, the player starting the next sequence is the player to the left of the player that just captured a cube.

Once all the cubes have been captured, players count the number of cubes in their capture piles. The player with the most cubes wins.

Option: If using a single Basic Set of Alpha Cubes, players use letter tiles to keep track of captured cubes. Players start with 15 tiles, 3 of each color. The actual letter on the tile does not matter. Only the color of the letter is important.

GAME # 4

Alphabet Madness

A sweater is a garment worn by a child when his mother feels chilly.

~ Proverbs

This game helps young children learn the alphabet. Players race to complete the alphabet. The alphabet does not need to be finished in the correct order. Strategy is used in selecting which cubes to roll as players try to be the first to complete the alphabet.

Game Play:

Any player can start, and players take turns rolling 5 cubes at a time until one of them completes the alphabet. Players can roll 5 cubes of the same color, one cube of each color, or any other combination. Use letter tiles to keep track of the letters rolled.

A blank face rolled counts as nothing, and the cube is not rolled again. Letters that duplicate letters already rolled count as nothing.

Each player gets the same number of turns. Ties are possible.

Option: If using a single Basic Set of Alpha Cubes, players declare how many of each colored cube they will roll in a turn, up to a total of 5. Each player keeps track of the letters they roll with letter tiles. The first player to complete the alphabet is the winner.

GAME # 5

Beginner Alphabet

There never was a child so lovely, but his mother was glad to get him asleep.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Author, Poet & Philosopher (1803-1882)

This game helps young children learn the alphabet. Players roll cubes, and the player rolling the letter closest to the start of the alphabet captures the cubes.

Game Materials:

Opaque bag

Game Play:

The game can be played with any number of players. The number of cubes needed depends on the number of players. For 2 or 4 players, use 52 cubes consisting of 12 blue cubes and 10 each of the other cubes. For 3 players, use 11 blue cubes and 10 each of the other cubes for a total of 51 cubes. For 5 and 6 players, use 60 cubes: 12 of each color. For 7 or more, multiply the number of players by 10 and divide that total by 5 to determine the number for each cube.

Put the cubes in an opaque bag. Without looking into the bag, each player draws one cube and they all roll their cubes at the same time. The player rolling the letter closest to the start of the alphabet captures all cubes rolled in that turn. If a blank face is rolled, the cube is rolled again until a letter is shown. Tied players keep rolling until a winner is determined. Each player keeps a capture pile. The player with the most captured cubes at the end of the game wins.

Play continues until all cubes have been drawn and rolled. The player with the most captured cubes wins.

If players tie, they roll a blue cube. The player with the letter closest to the start of the alphabet wins.

The game can be played with just the Basic Set of Alpha Cubes by replacing cubes with letter tiles in the bag. Players roll the cube matching the color of the tile drawn. If players draw duplicate colored letter tiles, they take turns rolling the proper cube.

GAME # 6

Matching Cube

Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child as it is to the caterpillar.

~ Bradley Miller, founder of Humane Farming Association

This game enhances a young child’s ability to identify letters of the alphabet. The object of the game is to roll cubes and match letters. The first player to match all of their cubes wins. The game can end in a tie.

Game Play:

Each player needs 30 cubes, 6 of each color. All players start at the same time by rolling their 30 cubes. It is possible to have up to 6 matching cubes of the same color in one turn. A player must keep at least 2 cubes of each color until the final 2 cubes are matched.

After the players roll their 30 cubes, they pick out all cubes matched with the same letter from their cubes.

Players put matched cubes aside, and, on the next turn, all players roll their unmatched cubes at the same time. If a player has 3 or more cubes of a color left and matches all but one of them, the player removes all but one of the matching cubes in order to leave 2 cubes of that color. With 5 or 6 cubes left, it is possible to match 2 different letters but leave one unmatched. The player removes all but one of the matching cubes. The final 2 colored cubes are removed when matched in a later turn.

This game can be played with a Basic Set of Alpha Cubes by using letter tiles. Players roll the Basic Set of Alpha Cubes 6 times on their first turn. Letter tiles are used to keep track of the letters.

After the cubes are rolled, the player will have 30 letter tiles showing letters. Set aside the letters that are matched, but follow the rules so there are always at least 2 of each color of letter tile left.

In the next turn, count the number of unmatched letter tiles for each color. Roll colored cubes the needed number of times. Track the rolls with letter tiles; set aside matching tiles.

Repeat the process until a player wins. Players get an equal number of turns.

GAME # 7

Match the Cube

A child is a person who can’t understand why someone would give away a perfectly good kitten.

~ Doug Larson, American cartoonist (b. 1926)

This 2-player game is to be played by, or with, young children. The game requires matching the cube rolls of the other player.

Game Play:

The youngest player starts by rolling the Basic Set of Alpha Cubes. A blank face is rolled again, so each cube has a letter.

The older player rolls the cubes and scores 1 point for each cube matching a letter rolled by the younger player. A blank face is rolled again until a letter is shown. No points are scored if there are no matches. This completes the first