About Hole Up, from BoardGameGeek:
Hole Up is a "holey" word game for two or more players, generally aged 7+. Players take turns stacking up letter cards to make three-letter words.
The cards have one or two letters and one or two holes. The holes line up with missing letters such that when two or more cards are stacked, underlying letters appear through the holes and a new word becomes visible.
COMPONENTS
72 double-sided letter cards
Six dry erase score boards
Two dry erase markers.
OVERVIEW
The goal of HOLE UP is score the most points from the words stacked.
MODES
There are three ways of playing HOLE UP:
• Stack - single stack
• Square - four-sided square stack
• Crosswords - like Scrabble.
All modes can be played solo or with two or more players.
COMMON SETUP
Shuffle the letter cards.
Place the cards within easy reach of all players.
Draw the the top card and place it between the players as the base card in the “heap”.
Give each player one card.
Give each player a score card.
GAME PLAY
On their turn, a player can perform the following actions:
Try to form a word on the heap.
Draw a new card if they cannot make a word.
Stack one of their cards to make a word or combine two of their cards (if available) to make and stack a word.
Players can lay either side of a card. The stacked card must form a valid three-letter word using the letters beneath and on their card. If not a single stack, all words formed must be valid.
At all times, at least one hole will be present and the letter in the hole will be used to form the next word.
FORMING A WORD
A three-letter word is formed using a combination of the letters beneath (as seen through the hole) and those on the card played.
For example, with the stack showing H A T
and the current card showing [ ] I P , the new word would be H I P, scoring 8 points. The "H" in the hole is used.
SCORING
Add up the point values of the three letters in the word made. Add the value to the score card.
ENDING THE GAME
The game is over once the draw pile has been exhausted and no more words can be formed by the player(s).
STRATEGIES
Examine both sides of a card to optimize a score.
Hold on to a valuable card to use later, for example one with high point value letter like X or Z.
-description from the publisher
