Do Dot Hot Word Game

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Do Dot Hot Word Game

Robert Harris
Version Date: December 3, 2011

In the Do Dot Hot word game, a short seed word is chosen and players connect new words to it and to the played words by either adding a letter or changing a letter. The name of the game exemplifies this. The seed word DO is changed to DOT by adding a letter. The played word DOT is changed to HOT by changing a letter. Below is an example of part of a game.

ICE	DICE
	RICE	RITE	BITE	KITE
	MICE		BATE
	LICE		FATE	MATE
	LACE	LACK	LARK	DARK	PARK	PACK	RACK	RACE	FACE
	PACE				PART
	PACT				PANT	PLANT	PLANET
	FACT				RANT

The seed word ICE is put in the upper left hand cell of the grid. Words formed by adding or changing letters are placed next to the seed or played word, either below it, or to the right or left.

In the game grid above, you can see that the seed word ICE was changed to DICE by adding a D, and then DICE was changed to several other words by changing a letter (RICE, MICE, etc.).

The Rules for DO DOT HOT

1. Each player receives one point for each word added, whether by adding or changing a letter.
2. A player plays until he or she cannot think of another word to add.
3. Only one letter can be changed or added at a time. (DATE to MATE but not DATE to VALE.) A player cannot both add a letter and change a letter to make a new word.
4. Letters cannot be rearranged in the new word. (PINK to PINE but not PINK to PIKE or PLANT to PLATE.)
5. Slang spellings are not allowed (NITE, TITE, THRU.)
6. A standard desk dictionary or online dictionary should be named as the authority before the game begins.
7. Pluralizing (adding an S, as in POT, POTS) or past tensing (adding a D, as in CITE, CITED) to get a new word is not permitted, unless players agree in advance by declaring "Plurals and Past."
8. A word already on the playing grid cannot be used again in a later transformation. For example, in the grid above, the player adding words under PARK in column 6 would not be able to add PACT after PART or PANT because (assuming) an earlier player had added PACT in column 2.
9. The new word must be added in a grid space next to the word it is transforming. If there is no free grid space, there is no play. A player is permitted to change direction on the grid to use free space as long as the newly played word is still next to the seed word.Thus, the player adding on to BITE in column 4 did not have room to add MATE under FATE because another player had used the cell below, so MATE was added to the right in column 6.
10. When a player has a turn, he or she may use any word on the grid as the seed and continue to add words according to the rules until either the player cannot think of any more or runs into an occupied cell. When none of the players can add any words, the game is over and the player with the highest number of points wins.
11. The seed word can be placed anywhere on the grid. Upper left or the center of the grid are two good locations.

Tips and Hints

1. To make scoring easy, have each player use a different color of pen or pencil. If you play on a PC, use a different font or different color type or different highlight color or shading.
2. Use the Playing Grid and Score Sheet available here in pdf format. (Requires Acrobat Reader or other pdf viewing application.)
3. Start with a short seed word. Examples: DO, SO, ANT, FIT, PEN, MAN, POT, TIP, TON, RED, END, BAT

Another Example

Here is another brief example of a DO DOT HOT grid. Why not continue the game for practice?

DO
DOT	HOT	POT	COT	SOT	GOT	GET	LET	LENT	BENT
	HAT			SIT
	HATE			SITE
	FATE
	PATE
	LATE
	MATE					VOLT
	MITE					BOLT
	BITE	BILE	MILE	MOLE	DOLE	DOLT	MOLT

Word Challenge

In a variation of this game, you can give another person the seed word and a final word and challenge the person to find the transitional words in between the seed and final word. The challenge can be relatively simple, with only two or three intermediate words, or it can be quite challenging with several intermediate words. Remember, too, that there could be more than one set of intermediate words connecting the seed word and the final word.

To play, have each player agree on the same number of intermediate words (one, two, three, etc.) and then use one of the strings below or your own string to pick out a seed word and final word. For example, in the string beginning with YES below, if you wanted two intermedeiate words, you might use TOTE as the seed word and VOLE as the final word. The other player would have to come up with ROTE and VOTE to get to VOLE.

Sample Sequences:
PROWL, GROWL, GROWN
PLOT, PLAT, PLATE, PRATE, PIRATE
YES, YEW, FEW, SEW, SET, SOT, TOT, TOTE, ROTE, VOTE, VOLE, VALE, SALE, MALE, MALL, MILL, MILE, SMILE, SIMILE
BLOW, BLEW, BREW, CREW, CROW, CROWN, BROWN, BRAWN, PRAWN, DRAWN, DROWN
JOB, ROB, RIB, CRIB, CRAB, DRAB, DRAM, DRAMA
YET, GET, GOT, GOAT, MOAT, BOAT, BOAR, SOAR, SOLAR, SONAR
LAB, CAB, SCAB, SCAR, SCARF, SCARE, SCORE, SCORN, ACORN
JAB, JAW, SAW, SOW, COW, COWL, BOWL, BOIL, BROIL

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Robert Harris is a writer and educator with more than 25 years of teaching experience at the college and university level. RHarris at virtualsalt.com