Sikaav Game Rules

Basics

Sikaav ("rune-join") is a crossword game, like Scrabble®, played on a 15x15-square board. A "bag" contains 102 lettered tiles used for play. Each tile has a rune and a point value depending on its rarity and how difficult it is to use. You begin play with 7 tiles in your hand. During your turn, you place your tiles on the board to make words and earn points. You then draw more tiles from the bag, and play passes to the next player.

The game ends once the bag is empty and a player successfully empties their hand. The player with the most total points at the end wins.

Your Turn

On your turn, you have the option to place your tiles on the board, exchange tiles from the bag, or skip your turn.

• Place tiles: Click and drag a tile from your hand to place it on the board. As you place tiles, your point total will appear beneath the "End Turn" button, as well as any potential rule problems with your turn. When finished, click "End Turn". If you've formed an unaccepted word, the game will let you know at this time which words need to be changed so you can adjust your tiles and submit your turn again.
• Exchange tiles: Click the Exchange Tiles icon next to your hand and select the tiles you'd like to exchange. The tiles you select will be returned to the bag, and you'll draw new tiles in their place. Consider exchanging tiles if you are unable to make a play or need a specific letter to make a good play.
• Skip: Click the "End Turn" button without placing any tiles. You will receive no points, and play will pass to the next player. You should only do this if you can't make a play or exchange tiles from the bag. If all players consecutively skip their turn, the game will end.

Tiles

The bag contains 102 tiles. Each tile has a rune from the dragon alphabet and a point value. You begin with 7 tiles in your hand, and draw tiles from the bag at the end of your turn until you have 7 in your hand again.

Below is the distribution of tiles and points in the game:

• 0 points: Blank x2
• 1 point: O x8, K x6, L x6, N x6, R x6, 1 x5, 4 x5, I x5, U x5, D x4, 3 x4, S x4, V x4, T x3
• 2 points: M x3, A x2, E x2
• 3 points: B x2, F x2, G x2, H x2, Z x2, 2 x1, 9 x1, P x1
• 5 points: 7 x1, J x1, 8 x1, 5 x1, Q x1, W x1
• 8 points: 6 x1, Y x1
• 10 points: X x1

Blank Tiles

Two tiles in the bag are blank tiles. When you place a blank tile, you can assign it any rune you choose. Save these tiles for high-scoring plays where you might be missing a specific letter. A blank tile is worth 0 points. Once played, it remains with the rune it was assigned for the rest of the game.

Making Words

Tiles must be formed horizontally from left to right, or vertically from top to bottom, like a crossword puzzle. Tiles can only be placed in one direction on a single turn. New words must use existing tiles on the board. Tiles you place must connect directly with other tiles. You cannot place tiles on occupied squares or replace existing tiles on the board. In addition, all tiles you play must be part of the same word — that is, you must place your tiles in a line without skipping over empty spaces. See the examples below for valid and invalid plays.

At the end of any play, all connected tiles must form accepted words. See the examples below for valid and invalid plays involving multiple words.

Words must be spelled with the correct runes. Two runes cannot be combined to spell a word where official spelling uses a single rune. For example, the word diin must be spelled with the tiles d3n and not diin. Likewise, the word thur must be spelled with the tiles th6 and not thur.

Accepted Words

Any word found in Thuum.org's dragon language dictionary can be played in Sikaav. This includes proper nouns that appear in the language, but not dragon names. It also includes words that are considered to be alternate spellings. Words from the Legacy Dictionary are not accepted.

Any word that requires the use of a hyphen cannot be played. Certain affixes can be used to form words while others cannot. Affixes that are used to form new vocabulary such as vo- 'un-' or -nu '-less' are only accepted in words where they officially appear, such as vokun 'shadow' or faasnu 'fearless'. Affixes that are used as part of grammar to express tense, possession, or plurality are accepted with any word where they can validly appear. Below is a list of accepted suffixes that can be used with the relevant part of speech:

• Nouns:
  • Plural suffix -e
  • Possessive suffixes -i, -ii, -iil, -ro, and -u
• Verbs:
  • Infinitive -a/-ha
  • Past participle -aan/-laan

Many words are both a noun and a verb. Keep an eye out for any available nouns or verbs on the board if you have the tiles to form the affixes above.

Scoring

When you play tiles on the board, you earn points for each word made by your tiles. A word's point value equals the sum of the tiles used to make it. For example, the word thur is made up of the tiles T (1), H (3), and 6 (8), and is worth 12 points. You get points from your own tiles as well as tiles already on the board. If a tile you play is part of multiple words, its point value counts towards each word.

Special squares on the board provide bonus points. If you play a tile on a double-letter or triple-letter square, that rune's point value is multiplied by that amount in each word it forms. If you play a tile on a double-word or triple-word square, any word that tile is part of has its total value (including letter bonuses) multiplied by that amount.

The point values of each word you make are added together to get the total points for your turn.

Krongrah Words

If you manage to play all 7 tiles in your hand on a single turn, you earn 50 bonus points on the turn. This is called a krongr4 ("victory") word.

Winning the Game

The game ends once any of the following occur:

• The bag is empty and a player successfully empties their hand.
• All players have consecutively skipped their turns.
• All opponents have resigned.

Once the game is over, the total point value remaining in each player's hand is deducted from their score, and added to the finishing player's score if a player successfully empties their hand. Try playing any high-value tiles you have left near the end to avoid losing a lead.

The player with the highest score at the end wins.

Player Conduct

All players are expected to follow the basic conduct outlined below. Poor conduct can result in changes to your account, including game records, chat privileges, or a ban.

Active Play

When you make or join a game, you are responsible for taking your turn in a timely manner. Do not join a game unless you have time to actively participate. You don't have to complete a whole game in one sitting, but try to make playing time each day. If you no longer have time to play a game, please consider resigning as a courtesy so your opponents can join new games.

Using the Dictionary

You are encouraged to use the dictionary in order to find suitable words to play. The Search tool allows you to search for words that begin, contain, or end with certain letters. The Translator can also be used to verify words that use affixes like the plural or possessive suffixes.

If someone has made a word you don't consider valid, consider posting your case to the Sikaav forum. If it is invalid, the word will be removed from the Sikaav dictionary for future games.

Chat

All Sikaav games feature a chatbox. Chat is opt-in. Chat messages are publically viewable to any site member viewing the game. If you make your game private, moderators and administrators will still be able to view and post to your game chat for moderating purposes.

Please follow the guidelines below regarding Sikaav game chat:

• Be courteous and respectful towards your fellow players. No harassment or flaming. Use common sense when it comes to competitive trash talk.
• Don't post links to illegal or explicit content.
• Don't spam or disrupt the chat.
• Don't repeatedly solicit other members.
• Don't threaten or condone violence.
• Don't share personal information, yours or anyone else's.

If someone is harrassing you in chat, please report them to a moderator or administrator. Provide a screenshot if able.

Game chat can be used to discuss whatever you'd like, but chat about the game and the dragon language should take priority. Sikaav games should not be paused to be used as a hangout for casual conversation. Please consider using your Inbox, or another chat site or application such as tlk.io, Skype or Discord instead. If a game is found to be intentionally paused for chatting purposes, the game will be closed. Repeat offenses may result in a loss of chat privileges.

Cheating

If you find an exploit, bug, or means to manipulate the game, we'd greatly appreciate it if you reported the problem so that we can fix it and improve the game for everyone. Anyone who is found taking advantage of an exploit will be subject to disciplinary action.

Do not repeatedly quit and join games in order to obtain a perfect starting hand or play. If you resign from more than 5 games in a day, you'll be prevented from joining new games for up to 24 hours.

Do not use alternate accounts to manipulate your or another player's records. Players who have been found manipulating their records will have their records reset, and repeat offenders may face account suspension.

Do not give or solicit advice during competitive games unless this is okayed by the opponents. You can use any resource at your disposal to make a play, but receiving help from an outside person is poor sportsmanship. Doing so during tournament games is grounds for disqualification.