GhostRules

Ghost is a word game for two or more players. In turn, each player names a letter, adding to a string of letters and hoping to avoid ending a word.

Preparation

Players sit in a circle, and one player is selected to call out a letter of the alphabet.

Gameplay

Each player, on his proper turn, adds a letter to the preceding letter(s) to form a word. But he must avoid being the one to add the last letter to a word. Example: If four or more are playing and the letters called thus far are BOR, the next player must not call out E, thus completing the word BORE. Instead, he could call out D, forcing another player to complete the word BORDER.

A player must have a specific word in mind, thinking of word variations that he can pass on. If a player believes that the preceding player did not have a valid word in mind, she may challenge him. The game is then stopped while the leader consults a dictionary, looking up the word given by the challenged player. If the word is not found, the challenged player is penalized one letter in the word ghost (more below) and the game continues. If the word is found, the challenger is penalized a letter and the game continues from that point.

Penalties

A player who completes a word is penalized with one letter in the word ghost. If he is penalized five times, he is eliminated from the game. Play continues until only one player remains.