Music, Video & Games

Why Does MWSearch Endorse The Game Braino?

Braino Scrammble © is a game for education, for entertainment and for health and it is indeed a game for all ages. Medical World Search is proud to publicly endorse the game not because it is invented by Dr. Chang who is the founder of Medical World Search but because it is an exciting game that does stimulate, challenge and entertain human brains. Every staff in the Medical World Search has played the game and loved the game. MWSearch urged Dr. Chang to make the game available to the public. MWSearch sees the game's value for families where family members can play together and enjoy. MWSearch also sees its value in schools where teachers and students can make learning more fun. MWSearch also sees its value for senior citizens in retirement homes and hospices where the game can be used to stimulate brains and keep people healthy. 

Braino Scrammble © can be played in many ways with varying rules. The rules can be selected to suit the group of players to make the games more fun and/or more challenging. The games also connect to a number of popular games so the games can be easily learned.

What Is Braino Scrammble?

Braino Scrammble (Or in short Braino or Scrammble*) is a word game system with an assembly of game components and a set of playing methods for the purpose of providing brain stimulation, education and entertainment.   The game system is based on the principle of dynamically scrambling alphabets in one's brain to form meaningful words to win score in a number of games. The assembly of game components consists of  (1) a set of alphabets with points as well as score multipliers associated with them making the scoring fun and brain stimulating, (2)  a set of rules describing how Scrammble, Scrammble Poker and Scrammble Majong are played with Braino cards and (3) optional accessories such as dice, chips, dictionary and game boards. These games have been filed with patent applications to the US Patent Office.  The Braino word games can be played as a variety of board games, card games and tile games with or without a number of specific game boards in a familiar setting of different games such as Scrabble ®,  Poker and Majong games. Braino increases challenges and fun to the popular game concepts, hence the games are very easy to learn and to play yet they produce many varieties that are suited for different age groups. The game components and playing methods can be implemented in an electronic and computer system to render interactive remote playing among players connected through computer network as well as with participation of audience of television, cable and/or Internet broadcast programs through on-site or remote control. In any of the playing formats, the brain stimulation and entertaining functions are maintained to improve the players' brain and physical health. Learning or education of course is a great side benefit. 

The product* offered here through  online purchase (containing 3 playing methods for 3 Principal Games and variations) can be played by a number of people in physical presence such as in a family gathering, social function and/or classroom. The product consists of a durable plastic  box containing 136 cards, a rule book (including Majong playing patterns) and a pair of dice or draw cards. The three principal games are described below with order information to follow. 

* Patent Pending * Braino Scrammble © or Braino or Scrammble trademark intended

Three Principal Games in One Braino Set (English version described here)

(1) Play Braino as Regular Scrammble Word Game

Each card is printed with an English alphabet, an assigned point from 1 to 13 for each alphabet weighted inversely by its frequency of occurrence in the English vocabulary. Each alphabet may have more than one card, for instance, alphabet E is given 1 point and has 15 cards whereas the alphabet Z is given 13 points but only has one card. Some of the vowels are also given a multiplier for example, 2xL is given to one E which means, in scoring the points, one can multiply the points of the alphabet to the left of this E by a factor of 2. Similarly, 3xR is given to another A which means one can multiply the points of the alphabet to the right of this A by a factor of 3. Only a few vowels are given this kind of multipliers. In addition, there are four wild cards in the playing deck. The wild cards are given zero point but they can be used as any alphabet in the formation of a word. Wild cards are also given a multiplier but the multiplication is applied to the total word points (sum of all alphabet points). Hence the wild cards are powerful cards.

The playing rules of the regular Scrammble are simple but the game is fun and exciting. Throw dice to determine who starts the game. Each player takes turn to flip open an alphabet card and place it in the center of the table. This continues till someone is able to form (spell) a word out of the open cards. Any player can 'Scrammble' a formed word by adding one or more additional alphabet cards that are opened and shown on the table. (For example, 'games' is scrambled into 'images' by adding the letter i) one can also combine the alphabets of two or more formed words and scramble into a new word. (For example, 'ratio' and 'gene' are combined into 'generation' by adding an n)  The players set the rule on what is the minimum length of the word that can be formed (for young kids, 2 alphabets as the minimum is recommended). The players also set the rule on which exceptions are not allowed, for instance, adding a s to a noun and making it plural or adding a d or ed to a verb etc. All exceptions must be agreed by all players before the game begins. A player successfully scrambled someone else's word will capture the newly formed word to be his or her possession. One can scramble one's own formed word to increase points or to make it more difficult to be scrambled by others. This game continues till all cards have been opened and all possible scramblings.have been explored. (No more than 120 Seconds for final scrambling is recommended)   

The scores are tallied by each player on all the words each captured or formed still in possesion. Be sure all multipliers are used including the wild card multipliers. Note 1: The wild card can be used as any alphabet, however, it may or may not be changeable during a scrambling which must be pre-agreed by all the players. (Changeable wild cards make the game more dynamic) The one who scores the highest wins the round. Then a new round can begin again. Note 2: If two or more players simultaneously claim 'Scrammble!' or   shout out a new word (It happens a lot when a game is heated up), the one scrambles and scores the highest total points in the scrambled word wins the word. (For kids' game, the recommended rule may be: the scrambler who sits closest clockwise to the one who just flipped open the last alphabet captures his or her scrambled word.)   

As you can see, the playing rules are simple but the game is extremely exciting. (See example below)

(2) Braino played as Scrammble Poker

The Scrammble cards can be played like a Poker game. 5-card or 7-card Scrammble Poker means trying to draw and form 5 letter or 7 letter word. The cards can be dealt one at a time or dealt all at once. Winning is the hand having the highest word score (summed up all points with multipliers applied to the declared word, if 5 letter or 7 letter word was not possible, one can declare shorter word). Winning hand can be challenged for misspelling or by scrambling into a higher score word. Challenged hand must yield the hand to the successful challenger who becomes the winner when there is no more challenger. (No more than 120 seconds for final challenge is recommended). Only the winner's score of each hand is recorded on the score sheet under the winner's name. The final winner is the one who has the highest cumulated score. 

All the excitement of Poker games including betting can be included in the Scrammble Poker game as long as the playing rules are agreed by all players. In the same spirit, more than 7-card Poker can be played similarly in the Scrammble Majong described below. (Gambling using Braino is not recommended except for mature adults)

(3) Braino Played as Scramble Majong

The Scrammble cards can be played like an oriental Majong game. A 13-card or 16-card Scrammble Majong means playing 14- or 17-letters to form words. There must be a Majong (a two letter word in analogy of the pair of Majong in the Majong game). Throw dice or draw card to determine a starter of the game. Each draws 13 or 16 cards except the starter draws one extra card. The players pre-agree a winning word pattern to be played (one can draw randomly from a deck of pattern cards or throw two dice to determine the pattern to be played for each game). For example, (3,4,5,2), (6,6,2), (4,4,4,2), (3,9,2), (7,5,2), (12,2), etc. are word patterns for 14-card Scrammble Majong. Obviously, 11 can not be in a pattern for 14-card Scrammble Majong; if one tosses a pair of dice getting 11, he or she must toss again. If one tosses 7 first then any second toss greater than 5 will have to be retossed. For the 17-card Scrammble Majong, there are more patterns one can play, for example, (3,3,4,5,2), (7,8,2), (4,5,6,2), (6,9,2), (12,3,2)...etc, etc. It is obvious that longer words are harder to make hence can render a game with no winner. (no winning after all 136 cards are used up). Depending on the players' vocabulary skills, the group may eliminate some of the harder patterns and choose to play with less challenging pattern such as (5,7,2) for 14-card or (4,5,6,2) for 17-card Scrammble Majong. One alternative choice of play pattern may be using the sentence forms of famous quotes. For example, "Every life is a story" is a pattern of (1,2,4,5,5) which means you must form five words in a 17-Card Majong with 1, 2, 4, 5 and 5 alphabets respectively (2 is the Majong). The words do not have to form a sentence, however. Another example for 17-card Majong may be "It is economy, stupid!" which is a pattern of (2,2,7,6). 

Just like Majong, after each player has taken up 13 or 16 cards, the starter leads and each player follows in sequence to take turn to draw a card and discard an unwanted card until the player can declare winning with the final drawn card (14th or 17th card completes a winning hand, one then declares "Hu" the Majong word for winning the game). During the game, you may take up the previous (the turn before you) player's discarded card instead of drawing a new card if so preferred. The last card you needed to declare winning can be drawn from the deck (which means winning without help) or taken from any of the other three players' discarded card (which means winning with someone's help; a penalty of  5 negative points may be applied to the one who gave the last helping card) If two or more players declare winning at the same time by taking up the very last discarded card, then the game ends with more than one winner. The one who discarded the helping card will be given multiple penalties according to the number of simultaneous winners. (Note: The previously discarded cards other than the very last one can not be picked up to form a word or to be used to claim winning). When more than one player desires to have the last discarded letter, the one closest in line to draw card has the priority to have it.  When a player picks up a discarded letter to form a word the player desires to have, the player must lay down open that word on the table to show other players. If several words are laid down, of course, it will give warning to others that a winning ("Hu") may be in the making. The displayed words can not be changed or taken back to rearrange into other words.

All the excitement of Majong games can be included in the Scrammble Majong game as long as the playing rules are agreed by all players. The Scrammble Majong game can be made simple and fun by picking easier patterns to play or can be made more challenging and exciting by picking more difficult patterns to play (for example, (2,3,9) is considerably more difficult to play than (2,3,4,5)). One variation of the Scrammble Majong can add a little luck in the game by each drawing a separate (different) word pattern to play. The one who draws an easy pattern will have a better chance to win.

Illustration of Scrammble Game by Example

Scrammble Cards are alphabet cards with points and multiplier assigned according to the rule book.

Scrammble is played by each taking turn to flip open an alphabet card. The following is an example:

First Round the alphabets opened are i,c,a,z,d, and r and Johnny declared ‘card’

Play Continued and Alphabets Opened are q and e then Mary declared ‘raced’ by adding ‘e’ to the word ‘card’ hence taking over the cards from Johnny and possessed ‘raced’

Play Continued and Alphabets Opened are e and l then David declared ‘cradle’ by adding the ‘l’ to ‘raced’ hence taking over ‘raced’ from Mary and possessed ‘cradle’

Play Continued and Alphabets Opened are n and w then Nancy declared ‘wine’ the same time when Johnny declared ‘crawled’. Since ‘Crawled’ has a higher score Johnny possesses the ‘crawled’ by taking the cradle away from David.

Counting of the Word Score: Each alphabet is assigned a point score corresponding inversely to its frequency of occurrence in the vocabulary. Some alphabet cards are also assigned a multiplier to multiply the alphabet score placed next to them either on the left or on the right or on both sides. A wild card can be used as any alphabet but with no points assigned to it.  Some wild cards have word score multiplier which can multiply the entire word score by a given factor. Sum up all word scores each player possesses and the one with highest point score is the winner.

The example above shows four words formed in the initial play. Each word score is CARD=22, RACED=26, CRADLE=20, and CRAWLED=36 respectively. The entire deck of cards is 136 pieces hence a couple of dozen words may result at the end of the game. It is exciting among players that their scores can change dramatically up and down by the Scrambling activities.

The complete set of cards, rule book and instructions are packaged in a game box. A pictorial example not in actual size is shown below (upper half of the card is shown, the lower half is a opposite mirror image and the numerals may not be centered properly due to differences in web browsers' scaling function). Each card is one alphabet with its point indicated and a multiplier added if any. The number in bracket indicates how many pieces the alphabet are in the deck. The score of raced is calculated as 2+2x3+1+4+3x3+1+3 = 26.

Order Information           

The Braino game is custom designed. An example (this simple layout is not the actual design) of how the scrammble game is played is shown above. The Scrammble Poker and Scrammble Majong two other fun games can be played with the same set of scrammble cards. Please place your order as early as possible before the Thanksgiving and Christmas rush. Send email to scrammble@ipo2u.com for any question or additional information about the games. All orders must be made by checks or via online secure credit card payment system. The delivery will be made after the check is cleared. Discounts are available for volume order by educational institutions. Special image for the back of the cards  may be ordered by providing a printable artwork along with the order. An artwork handling fee $200 will be added to the order of a minimum of 100 sets. The English version product consists of 136 playing cards contained in a plastic box, a pair of dice or draw cards and the rule book (including playing patterns for Scrammble Majong). The price is $15 per set plus domestic shipping & handling, $3.95 and taxes if applicable.  To avoid out of stock delay, please place your order early.  

Please contact scrammble@ipo2u.com for volume discount (minimum 100 sets), wholesale, custom logo brand or special versions for large group playing in which the alphabet tiles may be magnetic so they can be placed on a magnetic board standing up. For license of the game, please send request to iposec@ipo2u.com 

For the quantity ordered you may use the online credit card secure payment system (Use the Magic Mart CD order form and fill in Braino Scrammble as item name and the total amount including shipping/handling cost and taxes) or make your check to 

TLC Information Services, PO Box 944, Yorktown Heights, N. Y. 10598  

Brain stimulating games for edutainment and fun! -Braino Scrammble © Patent Pending

A Perfect Game for Family, Children, Parents and Grand Parents

A Fun Game for School, Vocabulary Learning, Math and Logic Skills 

An Entertaining Game for Seniors, Keeping Brains Active and Healthy