How to Play Wheel of Misfortune

The game is played in three rounds plus a bonus round. Each round is scored separately. At the end of the game, the computer will add up your scores from each round to give you a total game score. Try to beat your score on successive games.

Your goal in each round is to guess the word or phrase in the red puzzle box. A category name will appear under the box to give you a clue.

Click on the "spin" button to start the game, then click it again to spin the wheel. Choose a consonant by clicking on the alphabet panel. If the letter you picked appears in the puzzle, the number of points on the wheel will be added to your score. If the letter you picked does not appear in the puzzle, the "spins left" indicator will go down by one.

Spin again to choose another letter. If you forget to spin, nothing will happen when you click on the alphabet panel.

If the wheel comes up "lose turn", spin again without choosing a letter. If the wheel comes up "bankrupt" your score for the round will be reduced to zero.

If you get stuck, you can click on "buy a vowel". You will be able to select the vowel of your choice from the alphabet panel and your score will be reduced by 250 points.

Click on "solve the puzzle" when you think you know the answer. (If you're down to your final spin, take a guess even if you don't know the answer. If you use up all your spins without solving the puzzle, you will move on to the next round.) Fill in the remaining blanks by choosing each missing letter in turn from the alphabet panel. If your answer is correct, all the points you've accumulated in the round will be added to your total score. If you guessed incorrectly, you will score no points for the round. (The program does not show you the correct answer if you guess incorrectly. If you're really curious, you'll just have to keep playing until the same puzzle comes up again.)

In the bonus round you don't get a chance to spin. Some letters will automatically appear in the puzzle box, then you will be prompted to choose three more consonants and one vowel. Try to solve the puzzle by filling in the remaining letters from the alphabet panel.

Warning: bugs happen. This is not a very sophisicated program. If you try to do something it wasn't expecting, it may respond in weird ways.

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