Even Steven represents a tremendous advance in word games, emphasizing skill over blind luck. Factoring Out Luck. Emphasizing skill over luck, Even Steven evens the playing field in letter selection. Each player starts with an identical inventory of consonants and access to a shared pool of vowels, worth one point each. Letters are filled into each player’s hand randomly as they are used. The Board. The playing board is active. At the start of each game, all of the bonus squares are randomly scrambled so no two game boards are the same. Bonus Squares. In addition to the classic double- and triple-letter and double- and triple-word score bonus squares, Even Steven introduces blocking squares and go-again squares, bringing a never-before-seen level of strategy to the game. Too Many Vowels. Never again will you have a hand with all vowels or all consonants. The game provides each player with a constant number of four consonants and three vowels. The game ends when either player uses up their consonants. The value of any unused consonants are deducted from each player’s score. Play. You get 6 chances to spell a word correctly then pass your turn. If both players pass twice in a row, the game ends. Each game cost 2 credits, and you earn 4 credits for each game you win. You get 100 free credits when you first create an account. Purchase Additional Credits. When you run out of credits, you may purchase additional credits for 99 cents per 100 credits. Rating. Your 20 most recently completed games are averaged together to give you an average game score. Ranking. Your average game score is compared to your friends and to all other players and given a numeric ranking.
