Electric Company Word Fun instructions

THE ELECTRIC COMPANY* WORD FUN

Cartridge Instructions

(For 1 or 2 Players)

*THE ELECTRIC COMPANY is a trademark of the Children's Television

Workshop.

Letters are just letters until you make them words. High in the sky

incomplete words float by. Quick, fill in the missing letter. Load the

vowel, line up to shoot -- Blast Off! Then go off to the jungles where

monkeys scamper through trees, grabbing letters to build into words.

When you please, move on to a quieter game. Unscramble letters and

spell words that criss-cross on the display. Through the magic of

games, you'll learn that spelling can be fun -- all the while you play.

NOTE TO PARENTS

Letters and spelling take a fun new dimension with three exciting

word games. The ELECTRIC COMPANY� WORD FUN� by Mattel

Electronics is the playful way for elementary school age children to

improve their vocabulary and spelling skills. Developed in

conjunction with the famous Children's Television Workshop, the

ELECTRIC COMPANY WORD FUN adds zip to learning by using the

latest, most progressive technology. There's plenty of action once

letters pop on the screen. Players race monkeys through the jungle to

capture letters with their tails; or try to make new words by shooting

vowel rockets at words in the sky. Even traditional crosswords

becomes more exciting on the electronic grid. Before you know it,

learning and playing are wrapped up in one!

THE GAME CAN BE PLAYED IN TWO WAYS

Two players can compete against each other at the same time OR one

child can play alone, developing speed and accuracy at his own pace.

SELECT SPEED

All three Word Fun games can be played at four different speeds.

and each speed selection affects the overall game play. Press 3 for

slow, 2 for moderate, 1 for fast, or press the DISC for very fast.

SELECT GAME

After the game speed is selected, the screen shows:

1. CROSSWORDS

2. WORD HUNT

3. WORD ROCKETS

Choose a game by pressing the number of the game you want to play.

For example, if you want to play Word Hunt, press key number 2 on

your hand controller. Important: The game will start as soon as you

press the number to select. Be sure to read the instructions for a

game BEFORE you select it.

CROSSWORDS

OBJECT OF THE GAME

Players take turns spelling words on the grid. Each word must

connect to another. Highest score after 20 moves -- wins!

THE CONTROLS

KEYPAD 1 THROUGH 7: Move letters

HORIZ (KEYPAD 8): Spell word left to right

VERT (KEYPAD 9): Spell word top to bottom

CLEAR WORD (KEYPAD CLEAR): Clear word

CLEAR LETTER (KEYPAD 0): Clear letter

KEYPAD ENTER: Enter word

ANY SIDE ACTION BUTTON: Give up a turn

DISC: Move cursor (white square)

START CROSSWORDS

Either player presses 1 and Crosswords appears on the screen. Player

on the left uses the row of letters in the tan section on the left of the

screen. Player on the right uses the letters in the green section on the

right.

FIND A WORD

Player on the left begins. Look at the left row of scrambled letters

and try to spell out a word.

MOVE THE CURSOR

You must first place the cursor where you want the word to start. It

will move in 8 different directions, depending where you press the

direction disc. Tap the edge of the disc and the cursor moves in the

direction you want it to go. The first word can be placed anywhere

on the grid.

CHOOSE WORD DIRECTION

Once the cursor is in position, decide which direction you want to

spell out your word. To spell it from top to bottom, press VERT

(KEYPAD 9). To spell it from left to right press HORIZ (KEYPAD 8). If

you accidentally press HORIZ or VERT before the cursor is in its

desired position, the cursor will not move. Press Clear then move the

cursor, then press HORIZ or VERT again.

SPELL OUT THE WORD

To transfer the letters from the row onto the grid, press the number

next to each letter, one at a time. Let's say that number 1 is a D, 3 is

an O, 6 is a W and 7 is an R. You could spell W-O-R-D from left to

right by pressing HORIZ (KEYPAD 8) then 6-3-7-1. As each letter

appears on the grid, it disappears from the row. The cursor also

moves, showing where the next letter will be placed. The word being

spelled is the same color as the player's section.

FINISH A WORD

When you are satisfied with the word you spelled, press ENTER. The

cursor disappears and your opponent must now approve your word.

OPPONENT APPROVES WORD

If your opponent agrees that you have spelled a word correctly, he

presses his ENTER Key. One point is added to your score for each

letter of the word you entered. The score appears on the screen. For

example, W-O-R-D has 4 letters, so the score would be 4 - 0.

If your opponent doesn't think you have spelled a word correctly, he

or she may challenge. Look the word up in the dictionary. If it is

correct, the challenger must press ENTER and the game continues. But

if it is incorrect, you must press CLEAR WORD and ENTER, and you

lose your turn. Your word will disappear from the board & Letters

return to your row. Your opponent presses his ENTER key and it's

now his turn.

CROSS WORDS

The second word on the grid must connect with the first. After that,

each new word in the game must connect to one already on the grid.

For example, if the word WORD is horizontally on the board, the

letters L-A-N can be placed vertically immediately above the D to

spell LAND. If you try to enter an unconnected word, a loud buzzer

sounds, and the word automatically clears. Start again.

SPELL MORE THAN ONE WORD

Placing letters on the grid might create more than one word. For

example: placing the letters S-U-N vertically immediately to the

RIGHT of the end of WORD creates WORDS as well as SUN. You get one

point for each letter in each word. In this case, the letter S is counted

twice. There are 5 letters in WORDS: 3 letters in SUN. Total points for

this move is 8.

Make sure that the letters you place on the grid spell a word in all

directions. If not, they must be cleared from the screen.

THE GAME ENDS

Players take turns spelling words. One move is completed after each

player enters a word. The player with the highest score at the end of

20 moves, wins the game.

CHANGE YOUR LETTERS

If you are not satisfied with the word you have spelled, you can

change the letters. Press CLEAR LETTERS to erase one letter at a time,

starting with last letter you put down. As you clear the letters, they

disappear from the grid and reappear in their original position at the

side. Or press CLEAR WORD to sweep the entire word off at once. If

you clear an entire word, press HORIZ (8) or VERT (9) again before

selecting new letters.

CAN'T SPELL A WORD

If you just can not find a word in you letters, press any action

button. You give up that turn, but get a new set of letters for the next

move.

START A NEW GAME

To start a new game, press the reset, tap disc and press 1.

SCORING

One point for each letter in a correctly spelled word is added to a

player's score.

SOUNDS

Click: when cursor moves / when each letter is added to a word on

the grid.

CROSSWORDS RULES

Before you begin to play, decide if you will accept proper nouns,

foreign words, etc. Adding -ing, -s, etc. on words counts as an

entirely new word. If players of different skills are playing together,

make the competition more fair by limiting the game to three or four

letter words.

WORD HUNT

OBJECT OF THE GAME

Two players spell words at the same time. Each player controls a

monkey who picks up letters in the jungle and races back to spell 3

words (up to 8 letters each). Players must think fast because the

highest score at the end of five 3-minute turns -- wins!

THE CONTROLS

CLEAR LETTER (KEYPAD 0): Clear letter

KEYPAD ENTER: Enter word

ANY SIDE ACTION KEY: Pick-up, place and throw away letters

DISC: Move monkey

START LETTER HUNT

Either player presses 2 and Word Hunt appears on the screen. 15

letters are scattered on the screen. The clock begins to tick down

from 3 minutes. Player on the left controls the blue monkey. Player

on the right controls the white monkey.

Press the edge of the disc in the direction you want your monkey to

move. Stop when the center of the monkey is on the letter you want

to pick up. Press any action button and the letter pops on your

monkey's tail. The letter changes to the same color as the monkey.

Important: Be sure that the center of the monkey is over the letter.

RELEASE LETTER

Press the disc again and scamper your monkey into the scoring area

(bottom portion of screen). When you enter the scoring area, release

the letter by pressing any action button. The letter disappears from

the monkey's tail and appears at the cursor's position. The cursor

now indicates where the next letter will be placed. Important:

release the letter as soon as you cross the line into the scoring area.

The letter will automatically be placed in the position indicated by

the cursor.

Hurry and get your next letter. As one letter is taken from the jungle

area, another pops on to replace it. There will always be 15 letters in

the jungle.

FINISH A WORD

When you finish spelling the first word, press ENTER. The cursor now

moves to the next line. You do not take turns in this game, so start

your next word immediately. (If a word is 8 letters long you do not

have to press ENTER; the cursor goes to the next line automatically

after placing the 8th letter in a word.)

OOPS! YOU MISSPELLED THE WORD

Press CLEAR LETTER (0) and the last letter disappears. Continue to

press CLEAR LETTER until all the incorrect letters are removed. You

can clear letters even after you have entered a word.

THROW LETTERS IN THE TRASH CAN

If you accidentally pick up a letter you don't need, throw it quickly

into the trash can just above the scoring areas.

Place the center of the monkey on the trash can. Press any action

button to release the letter and it disappears. Now go and get the

correct letter.

CHECK WORDS AND ENTER SCORES

When time runs out or both players complete 3 words, it is time to

check the words. An arrow points to the first word on the left. If the

player on the right wishes to challenge the word, check in the

dictionary. If the word is not correctly spelled, player on the left

must press his own CLEAR WORD button. The word disappears from

the screen and nothing is added to the score. If the word is correct,

your opponent presses ENTER and the score appears on the screen.

Repeat with all words.

START A NEW GAME

After all words are verified, and scores are entered, there is a brief

pause. Then the game automatically starts over. There are five turns

in a game.

TIPS

* The quickest way to play this game is to keep the action button

pushed in at all times. Run through the trash can to throw the letter

away or hold in the action button and run your monkey through the

letter you want to pick up. It pops on his tail. (Be careful not to run

through a letter you do not want.) Then run in and out of the scoring

area and the letter is released. (Be careful not to run through the

trash can on the way.)

* Pick up letters that are closest to your scoring area if you run short

of time.

* Look at your opponent's word. If you know the next letter he will

need, go pick it up and throw it away.

* When you need a letter that is not in the jungle, throw away some

letters. New letters will pop on to the screen.

* If you finish making three words and there is still time left, go

throw away letters your opponent might need.

SOUNDS

Click: when clock counts down

Jungle sounds: random bird calls, lion roars

Buzz: when you enter third word or time runs out

Ding: accept a word and enter into score

Tom Tom drum: enter a word

WORD ROCKETS

OBJECT OF THE GAME

Two players try to complete the same word at the same time. Load

vowels on your wagon and blast them at the incomplete word in the

sky. First player to spell 50 words -- wins!

THE CONTROLS

ANY SIDE ACTION BUTTON: Load and blast off letters

DISC: Move wagon

START WORD ROCKETS

Either player presses 3 and Word Rockets appears on the screen. Two

consonants float by with a space in the middle. The player on the left

controls the red wagon and the player on the right controls the

yellow wagon.

MOVE YOUR WAGON

Move your wagon to pick up vowels (along bottom of screen) and to

line up with the word in the sky. Practice moving your wagon by

pressing the left and right side of the disc.

LOAD A VOWEL

Look at the incomplete word in the sky, then look for the vowel that

would correctly complete that word. Quickly move your wagon into

that vowel area and press any action button. The Vowel is loaded

onto the wagon. You don't need to land right on the vowel to pick it

up. When you load one letter on the wagon, another immediately

pops into that space.

BLAST OFF THE LETTER

After you have loaded a vowel on the wagon, press the disc to zoom

your wagon across the screen so that it lines up with the word in the

sky. Press any action button and the vowel blasts off. You need to be

fast.

Sometimes the incomplete word comes from left to right, and

sometimes from right to left. The speed and height of the word

varies randomly. Timing is important when you blast off the vowel.

If the word is high in the sky, you need to blast the vowel off before

the word reaches the wagon. As the letter rises, the word moves

across to meet it.

COMPLETE A WORD

When you hear a "RING", a correct vowel has hit the word in the sky!

The screen flashes in red, then the word changes to the color of the

player who spelled it. The word is displayed for a few seconds than

rises to the top and disappears. When you complete a word, one

point is added to your score. If two vowels complete a word at the

same time, the word turns yellow, but both players get a point.

When you hear a "BOING", the vowel you blasted won't make a word.

It bounces off the word in the sky -- wrong vowel!!

If you blast a vowel skyward and it misses the word, it rises off the

screen.

START A NEW GAME

To start a new game, press the reset, select the speed, then press 3.

TIPS

If you need a vowel that isn't on the screen, blast off a vowel and

hope the one you need pops on.

SCORING:

One point is added to the score for completing each word.

SOUNDS:

Shot: blast vowel to the sky

Ring: vowel makes a word

BOING!: vowel bounces off word

Gonggg!: first to 50 points

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