I used to run this game back at Jul. Now, it comes to Kafuka It works like the TV show, although there are a few differences.

Only 3 contestants per game, please. Sign up in here if you want to play.

I will give you a puzzle consisting of a series of asterisks representing missing letters, and possibly punctuation marks already filled in. I will also give you a general category, such as "Person", "Food and Drink", or "On the Map". The game lasts for 5 normal rounds, followed by a Final Spin round and a Bonus round.

During a normal round, when it is your turn, you may spin, buy a vowel, or solve.

To spin, in your post name a consonant that you think is in the puzzle. Y is always considered a consonant for the purposes of this game. I will inform you of what you spun; usually it will be an amount of points, in which case I will reveal any instances of your chosen letter in the puzzle, in their proper locations, and you will be awarded points based on how many of that letter appear. For instance, if you select B and spin 300, if there are 2 B's in the puzzle you get 600 points. As long as there is at least one of your chosen letter, you may take another turn. If your letter is not there, the turn passes to the next person, unless you have a Free Spin you wish to use.

You might also spin "Lose a Turn", in which case your turn ends, or "Bankrupt", in which case you lose all your points for that round and your turn ends. In addition, one of the point amounts will randomly contain a Free Spin token. If you land on that space and select a letter that is in the puzzle, you will also receive the Free Spin, which may be used at any point during the first 5 rounds to keep your turn if you otherwise would have lost it.

To buy a vowel, you must have at least 250 points to spend. Name a vowel (A, E, I, O, or U) in your post. All instances of the vowel in the puzzle will be shown, and you will keep your turn if at least one instance of the vowel appeared, or lose your turn if the vowel is not in the puzzle.

To solve, simply tell me what you think the complete puzzle is. Spelling counts! If you're correct, your current round points (or a minimum of 1000 points) will be added to your total game points, and the next round will begin. The turn passes to the next player regardless of whether you're right or wrong. However, keep in mind that you may only keep your points if you're the one who solved the puzzle. The other 2 players will lose their points for that round.

The Final Spin round works a bit differently. I will spin the wheel once and add 1000 points to the amount; all consonants in the round are worth that many points, and vowels are worth nothing (but they don't cost you anything, either). In the Final Spin round, you must name a letter (either a vowel or a consonant). If it's not in the puzzle, you lose your turn as usual. If it's there, you may try to solve the puzzle or pass to the next player. You may not select another letter.

After the Final Spin round, the contestant with the most points (and only that contestant) moves on to the Bonus round. In the Bonus round, I will give you a puzzle with all instances of R, S, T, L, N, and E already revealed. You should pick 3 more consonants, 1 more vowel, and a number from 1 to 18 which determines what prize you'll receive if you win the game. Prizes range from 20000 to 100000 points. You must then guess the puzzle; you may give me up to 3 guesses, all in one post. If you are correct, you will win the bonus amount.

Everyone's cumulative score will be kept track of from one episode to the next, so you'll all have a chance to climb the leaderboard as the game goes on.

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

OK, our three contestants for this episode are Danika, KP9000, and Marzen64.

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 0 / 0
KP9000: 0 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

And here is the first Kafuka puzzle!

Category: Phrase
******* ** **** ****

Danika, you're up first. Would you like to spin or solve*?

*In the Jul version of WOF, someone actually did solve a completely letterless puzzle.

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

You spun 450, and there is one T.

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 450 / 0
KP9000: 0 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

Category: Phrase
******* T* **** ****
Used letters: T

Dani, you're still up. Spin, buy a vowel, or solve?

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

There are 3 O's!

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 200 / 0
KP9000: 0 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

Category: Phrase
****O** TO **** *O**
Used letters: O, T

You can't afford another vowel right now. Spin or solve?

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

300, but there is no S.

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 200 / 0
KP9000: 0 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

Category: Phrase
****O** TO **** *O**
Used letters: O, S, T

KP9000, it's your turn. Spin or solve? (If you spin, please specify a letter.)

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

300 points and there is one R.

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 200 / 0
KP9000: 300 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

Category: Phrase
****O** TO **R* *O**
Used letters: O, R, S, T

KP, you're still up. Spin, buy a vowel, or solve?

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

650 points for the lone L.

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 200 / 0
KP9000: 950 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

Category: Phrase
**L*O** TO **R* *O**
Used letters: L, O, R, S, T

Spin, vowel, or solve, KP?

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

550 and one N.

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 200 / 0
KP9000: 1500 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

Category: Phrase
**L*O** TO **R* *ON*
Used letters: L, N, O, R, S, T

You're still up. Spin, buy a vowel, or solve?

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.

There are 3 E's.

Points: (this round / game total)
Danika: 200 / 0
KP9000: 1250 / 0
Marzen64: 0 / 0

Category: Phrase
*EL*O*E TO **R* *ONE
Used letters: E, L, N, O, R, S, T

Spin, buy another vowel, or solve?

____________________

'Cause when you've given up,
When no matter what you do it's never good enough,
When you never thought that it could ever get this tough,
That's when you feel my kind of love.