Word Games
The goal of this game is to compose as many nouns as possible using a limited character repertoire. The character repertoire is defined by a single word that should be a correct noun found in the dictionary. All the nouns of the solution are also found in the dictionary, otherwise they are rejected.
This is a classic word-guessing game where you try to figure out the fixed-length word chosen by the host. If matching digits/letters are in the right places, they're called “bulls,” but if they're in the wrong spots, they're “cows”. On each move, the player fills in a single trial word. In response, the host provides a hint as a pair of numbers. The first number is the sum of bulls and cows, and the second number is the number of bulls.
The word “balda” originates from Turkic languages where it means ax or heavy hummer. It may also mean “fist”, “lump”, or “thickening”, or used in colloquial speech to characterize not a very smart person. There are several variants of this game.
The goal of the game is not to finish a word, adding letters, one at a time, either to the beginning or the end of the sequence. Two or more players can play. The game continues until the sequence makes a noun found in the dictionary. In this case, the loser is the one who put the last letter. The game could be stopped at any time. In this case, the player who was given the turn to move loses if one of the players suggests the correct way to complete the word. Otherwise, a draw is declared.
There are also rank-2 variants of the linguistic games named “Balda”, but the idea of those games is radically different.