teach reading using games
New: the trugs Card Table
trugs cards. Same words.
Phonics fun, together.
The trugs card games schools trust, as a digital edition: every stage and game in one place, with printing built in.
- 15 structured stages
- 2,000+ decodable words
- Get It, Match It, Take It
- Letter Sounds and Tricky Words
- Recorded audio
- Printing built in
- Check It reading checks
- Story Bookshelf
The best-loved trugs games
Get It, Match It, Take It
The three games from every trugs box, dealt on any screen: whiteboards, laptops, Chromebooks and tablets. Play with your learners, against Trug the robot, or with friends and family. More trugs games are on the way.
Get It
Guess the next word, find it on the master card, then turn it over and say it aloud.
Match It
Match the symbol or number on the table, reading every word as you play it.
Take It
Read a card aloud and take it, or take one from Trug. Four of a colour makes a set.
Why the Card Table
Reading practice that is play
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Your turn. And your turn.
Learners pick up and play on their own against Trug the robot, with a clear path so they always know what comes next.
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Two players. One growing reader.
Two-player games for learner and adult, or learner and friend. No phonics expertise needed: the game provides the structure.
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Miles apart. Same game.
Play together over a video call with the Cloud Table. Ideal for online tutoring, specialist support and home learning.
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All the repetition. None of the groans.
The steady repetition struggling readers need, in a form they enjoy. Age-neutral design that never feels babyish.
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Built up, one sound at a time.
Each stage builds on the last, with nothing left to chance. Decoding, blending and spelling, all through play.
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15 stages. First sounds to four syllables.
A clear, step-by-step route through structured phonics, with nothing left to chance.
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The intervention they’ll ask to play.
Ready-made for catch-up and intervention groups, and it fits into short, regular sessions.
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Your phonics programme’s practice partner.
Works alongside the phonics programme your school already uses, adding the game-based practice that makes skills stick.
Every trugs stage
From c‑a‑t to con‑grat‑u‑late
Letter Sounds, 15 structured stages and the Tricky Words, each building on the last. Tap a stage to see what it teaches.
Letter Sounds
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Tricky Words
Stage 0 · before Stage 1
Letter Sounds
The first letter sounds: s a t p i n m d g o c k ck e u r b f ff l ll ss, then into words
- an
- pit
- sock
Level 1 · Foundation
Stage 1: CVC Words
consonant, vowel, consonant
- sat
- yes
- big
- fox
- hug
Level 1 · Foundation
Stage 2: CCVC Words
two consonants at the start
- pram
- shall
- trip
- snack
Level 1 · Foundation
Stage 3: CVCC and CCVCC Words
two consonants at the end
- left
- best
- crash
- drank
Level 1 · Foundation
Stage 4: Two-Syllable Words
two consonants in the middle: mag|net
- magnet
- instruct
- exit
- finish
Level 1 · Foundation
Stage 5: R-Controlled Vowels
ar · or · er · ir · ur
- car
- port
- her
- stir
- churn
Level 2 · Vowel Power
Stage 6: Split Digraph
vowel-consonant-e
- make
- gate
- dive
- bone
Level 2 · Vowel Power
Stage 7: Vowel Digraphs and Trigraphs
two or three letters, one vowel sound
- snail
- statue
- day
- east
Level 2 · Vowel Power
Stage 8: Alternative Vowel Digraphs
oy · ou · aw · ow
- boy
- out
- paw
- loud
- cow
Level 2 · Vowel Power
Stage 9: Two-Syllable Words
one consonant in the middle: pi|lot
- pilot
- limit
- bacon
- paper
Level 2 · Vowel Power
Stage 10: Three-Syllable Words
clap the three beats
- consider
- animal
- habitat
- visitor
Level 3 · Advanced
Stage 11: Soft C
‘c’ as in /s/
- mice
- pencil
- city
- ace
Level 3 · Advanced
Stage 12: Soft G
‘g’ as in /j/
- gem
- page
- rigid
- age
Level 3 · Advanced
Stage 13: Consonant-le
-ble · -dle · -ple
- candle
- sensible
- fable
- ample
Level 3 · Advanced
Stage 14: Four-Syllable Words
four beats
- independent
- alligator
- helicopter
- caterpillar
Level 3 · Advanced
Stage 15: Suffixes with ti, ci, si
‘ti’ · ‘ci’ · ‘si’ say /sh/
- electrician
- action
- erosion
- magician
Tricky Words · Sight words
Tricky Words 1
high-frequency words with a tricky part
- the
- said
- of
- was
- you
- they
Tricky Words · Sight words
Tricky Words 2
the next common words
- water
- good
- want
- how
- going
- where
A digital edition of trugs
The whole trugs structure, built in
Behind the games sits everything trugs has always been: Letter Sounds, 15 structured stages and the Tricky Words, each with its sound focus, example words and a teaching tip. Sign in, free for 30 days, and the teacher’s tools open up.
- Print any stage as a Card Pack, from the same word lists
- Check It, to see when a reader is ready to move on
- Players, so each learner picks up at their own stage
- Decodable stories matched to the stage
- The Cloud Table, for play over a video call
Print any stage straight from the Card Table.
Getting started
Two ways in, and a free start
Free
Start playing today
Letter Sounds and Stages 1 to 5 in all three games, free in any web browser. No account needed.
Schools
School license
Every stage and Tricky Words for every teacher and TA, plus printing, Check It, players and the Cloud Table. One key for the whole school; learners never log in.
Tutors and home
trugs Tutor account
Everything in the school license for one tutor or family, through the Tutor Pack. Print the Card Packs you need, when you need them.
Created by a specialist
The trugs you know and trust
trugs was created by Joanna Jeffery MBE, MA(Ed), Cert Ed, Dip (Dys), AMBDA, a teacher with more than 35 years of experience helping learners of all ages who find reading hard. The trugs Card Table stays faithful to her original: her 15 stages, her word lists and her three games, exactly as she made them. What it adds is a recorded voice for every word, Trug the robot to play against, and play for one-to-one or small groups, on one screen or across two with the Cloud Table.
If you have been searching for a simple, effective, fun and quick game to play to boost reading ability, with learners of all ages… you need look no further. trugs ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’: teach reading using games.
Polly Bennett, NASEN Special Magazine
trugs Card Packs
Prefer real cards with real people?
They’re not going anywhere. The same three games come as trugs Card Packs, printed on stiff card and now with lower-cost shipping. Pop out the stage you’re working on, put an elastic band round it, and play.
- Every stage, plus Letter Sounds and Tricky Words
- Ready-made pop-out packs or print-at-home
- Pupil record and story booklets for schools
Card Packs for home and tutors
Pop-out packs of every stage, posted to your door.
trugs for schools
Card Packs with the pupil record and story booklets for each pack of stages.
Tricky Words, Check and more
The rest of the trugs range, in the shop.
Free for 30 days
Try the full trugs Card Table free for 30 days
Every stage, every game and all the school features unlocked: printing Card Packs, Check It, players and the Cloud Table. Just sign in with your email, with no payment details needed.