I met Peter Roizen, the intriguing inventor of WildWords, at Kepler’s Bookstore in Menlo Park. WildWords is a great example of adding an innovative twist to a classic product. It’s incredibly more fun than Scrabble, because a dozen wild asterisk tiles and any tile played on one of 20 Turn-To-Wild squares can be used to represent any series of one or more letters, so you can completely bluff. Dramatic comebacks are possible, and your ability to bluff, or to call a bluff, add a compelling element of gamesmanship.

WildWords is available at select independent stores, or online for $29.95 plus $7 for shipping.