BrouHaHa: A competitive Speak n Spell that challenges my historically impressive spelling skills

It may not be obvious, but I have a deeply competitive side that I try to keep under wraps, especially while playing games where other people are involved. So I love finding games that let me play against a bunch of bots, because I can really go to town and kick some butt. Enter BrouHaHa, a game that not only lets me get competitive, but also lets me brag about my spelling skills. Most of the time. 

BrouHaHa, developed by Porto Palma Games, is a typing deckbuilder game that audibly gives you a word, then gives you a few seconds to type it correctly. It sounds simple, but things are complicated by cards and difficult words, not to mention the fact that the world around you ends up being the biggest debuff of all, especially if you don't like gaming with headphones. 

Speak and spell

When I was a kid, one of my favorite toys in the world was a Speak n Spell. That magical, robotically-voiced red and yellow box was my gateway into spelling bees and my enduring love of broadening my vocabulary. BrouHaHa is what would happen if the Speak n Spell gained some form of cursed sentience and was given power over a game show. 

Now, I'm a fan of words, and I have a long history of taking great pride in my ability to spell those words. I have distinct memories of being 8 years old and proudly proclaiming to my class that I could spell both “antidisestablishmentarianism" and “paleontologist” before going on to do just that. My teacher was impressed; the “cool kids” made that lunchtime miserable. It was 100% worth it, and I'm still proud of my younger self to this day. 

Why am I telling you this? Because we've already established that I'm competitive when it comes to spelling, but also because that fact makes BrouHaHa like crack for me. It takes something I have always loved doing and gives me points for doing it, letting me beat others in the process. So it goes without saying that I played the demo for hours, obviously. 

Seeking words

However, my highly accurate spelling skills have been tested beyond normal limits in BrouHaHa. Not because the words are hard, but because the robotic Speak n Spell voice is sometimes hard to understand and, unlike with the now classic toy, you only have a certain number of replays in BrouHaHa. This is made worse when the game throws a word at you that could be spelled multiple ways. 

Take, for instance, “Sikhs.” I knew what the voice had said, I'd processed it, and I typed in my answer, trying not to feel too proud that it had taken me half a second to correctly type it. Except, I hadn't. Because I'd written “seeks”, resulting in zero points and a lot of frustration on my part. Not at the game, but for the small part of my brain that had pointed out it might be the other version of the word, which I had entirely ignored, and look where it got me. 

To be fair, most of the words in BrouHaHa are easy to process and only have one correct spelling, even if it is one that many may get wrong. But there were moments that had me wanting to yell, “Well, how was I meant to know that?!” Thankfully, the bots you can play against in the demo also seem to struggle with certain similar-sounding words, so it's not too hard to claw your way back to the top spot. 

Cards and distractions

Between each turn, you can pick from three cards to purchase with your winnings, each of which provides a passive or one-time use, depending on the card. Some of them boost your overall score until you die and the run ends; others give you a boost for one round or put a disadvantage on another player. But there's a catch: you can only apply cards proactively. You're gambling on whether the card will actually prove useful or end up wasted.

On top of that, and this is probably the biggest challenge for me as a non-headphone player whose computer fans sound like a jet engine trying to take off but never quite making it, the real world is noisy. I'm used to noise, but there is nothing worse than a Discord notification coming through at just the perfect moment to drown out the Speak n Spell voice. Sure, you could use a replay, but they're limited! 

And worse, you've only got a few seconds to get some letters in, which is enough to make anyone panic and flail around the keyboard. You try typing “psychoanalysis” in four seconds without making a single typo and then get back to me!

But still, despite these frustrations, I have spent hours with the demo of BrouHaHa, because if you give me any excuse to show off my spelling skills, you better know I'm gonna take it. Maybe this is something that's specific only to me, but I doubt it; I don't think I'm so unique that BrouHaHa doesn’t have a spelling-obsessed audience out there. They just need to be shown where to go.

BrouHaHa is set to release on November 3, 2026, and I cannot wait to see what other avoidable spelling mistakes I can make in my panic over the rapidly reducing timer. Until then, I'll keep going back to the demo whenever I get the urge to do some spelling. If you want to challenge me, just say the word; I'll be there.

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